Continued repression of civil society activists in Iran; Azerbaijani activist Salar Taher Afshar sentenced to four years in prison

Salar Taher Afshar, an Azerbaijani (Turkish) activist living in Urmia, was sentenced to four years in prison by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told VOA that Mr. Taher Afshar was sentenced to a total of four years in prison by Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Sheikhloo, on charges of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran" and "attempting to organize illegal gatherings."

According to this source, the hearing of this case was held in the Revolutionary Court on December 14, 2019, with the presence of this Azerbaijani activist and his defense lawyer, and the verdict was delivered orally to Mr. Taher Afshar on Saturday, December 13.

This informed source, emphasizing that this ruling is not final, says that the lawyer in the case intends to appeal the ruling and submit his appeal to the court in the coming days.

This citizen, a resident of Urmia, was arrested on Thursday, July 16, while attending the Intelligence Department of the Doqqoz Police Force in Urmia. Six days later, he was temporarily released from Urmia Central Prison after posting a bail of 50 million Tomans, pending the completion of the trial.

According to this informed source, Salar Taher Afshar was summoned to the Urmia Police Intelligence Department and arrested there after participating in protest rallies in Urmia that were held in support of the Republic of Azerbaijan's military action in Karabakh.

This informed source told VOA about Mr. Taher Afshar’s civil activities that this Azerbaijani activist has had a history of being summoned, arrested, and convicted many times over the past years. According to this source, he was arrested by security forces on July 6, 2018. He was sentenced in court to pay a fine of one million tomans instead of one year of imprisonment on charges of propaganda against the regime.

According to this source, this Azerbaijani activist was also arrested by security forces during the nationwide protests on November 10. He was later released from the Urmia Central Detention Center on bail of 100 million Tomans, temporarily until the end of the trial. On January 15, Mr. Taher Afshar was summoned to the West Azerbaijan Provincial General Court, Branch 101 of the Criminal Court, to present his final defense. He was ultimately sentenced to three years of suspended imprisonment instead of eight months in prison and 20 lashes.

This is not the first time that an Azerbaijani activist has been arrested or sentenced to prison following an unfair trial. Voice of America previously reported that, in a continuation of the crackdown on civil activists, dissidents, and opponents of the Iranian regime’s policies, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary has sentenced another Azerbaijani civil activist, Ali Azizi, to six months in prison.