Golrokh Iraei arrested in the presence of ten plainclothes officers without a warrant
A source familiar with the situation told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that civil rights activist Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraei was arrested at her home in Tehran on Saturday, November 9. According to the source, ten plainclothes officers arrested Ms. Iraei without a warrant on Saturday afternoon. As of this writing, there is no information about her whereabouts.
Golrokh Iraei was released from prison on April 8, 2019 after completing her sentence. This release was made possible due to another case opened in prison against Ms. Iraei with a bail of 60 million Tomans. On November 22, 2016, she was arrested by security agents at her home without receiving a written summons and transferred to Evin Prison to serve the sentence. Some time later, 30 months of this civil activist's sentence was pardoned and her final sentence was reduced to two and a half years. Golrokh Iraei was released from Evin Prison on April 8, 2019 after completing her prison term. Due to having a second case, she was forced to pay a bail of 60 million Tomans to the court upon her release.
An informed source told the campaign: "We still don't know if this is a new case, if they have arrested Golrokh again because of her follow-up with Arash Sadeghi regarding the situation of her husband, or if it is because of the warrant they issued for Golrokh's recent case. Golrokh herself did not know when she was arrested that she had called her family and said that they had come to arrest her, but they did not provide her with a warrant, an ID card, or the reason for the arrest."
According to this source, "No one considers themselves obligated to provide even a simple explanation, as in the recent case of Golrokh, where her sentence was upheld in the appeals court without her or her lawyer being aware of when the appeals court was convened and having the opportunity to defend themselves."
In this new case, which is shared with Athena Daemi, Golrokh Iraei has been definitively sentenced to three years and seven months in prison and a two-year ban from membership in social groups.
Golrokh Iraei and Atena Daemi were charged with two charges of "incitement against the system" and "insulting the leadership" in a joint case while they were serving their sentences in Evin Prison. Their trial was held in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, and Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals upheld this verdict.
The new charges against these two political prisoners were based on “writing letters and statements from inside prison” and “contacting media outside the country,” and “insulting the leadership” through “singing songs after the execution of Zania Moradi, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi in the prison’s visiting hall.”
Amir Raisian, Golrokh Iraei's lawyer, told Ensaf News on Thursday, September 4, that his client's verdict in the Court of Appeals was confirmed exactly.
Amjad Hossein Panahi, the brother of Ramin Hossein Panahi, who was executed on September 8, 2018, wrote on his personal Twitter that "The case of Atena and Golrokh was opened on the day they protested against the execution of Ramin Hossein Panahi, Zanyar, and Loghman Moradi. They were in Evin Prison at the time, and while protesting, they sang a hymn in the meeting hall in memory of these three executed Kurdish activists."
An informed source told the campaign that, “According to the notification published on the Sana system, the date of execution of the verdict in his new case is January 1, which is two and a half months away. Now we really don’t know what happened that ten men in plain clothes showed up at Golrokh’s house and arrested her without providing a warrant or explanation. This is like kidnapping. Golrokh’s only activity after her release was to follow up on Arash’s situation, and we don’t know if her arrest is related to this issue or not.”
The Sana system, a system for electronic judicial services offices, is a system for submitting and following up on petitions, complaints, statements, appeals, and recusals belonging to the judicial system of the Islamic Republic.
Golrokh Iraei, the wife of Arash Sadeghi, a political prisoner, underwent surgery in September 2018 to remove a cancerous tumor from her right shoulder. In an interview with the Campaign on Friday, October 16, Ms. Iraei described her husband’s condition as “dangerous” and called for the political prisoner to be sent to a hospital outside the prison. Ms. Iraei told the Campaign that “Arash Sadeghi’s right hand is infected, completely disabled, and must be monitored by a doctor outside the prison.”
Ms. Iraei is a civil activist who was previously sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “insulting sacred places” through writing an unpublished story that was discovered during a search of her home by security agents. She was also sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the system” through participating in various gatherings in front of Evin Prison and meeting with political prisoners and families of those killed in 2009. This sentence was issued by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, and was confirmed by Branch 54 of the Court of Appeals. According to Article 134 of the “Islamic Penal Code,” she should have served the maximum sentence, which included five years in prison for the charge of insulting sacred places.
Source: Human Rights Campaign
