Civil activist Sepideh Farhan's prison sentence confirmed in full in the appeals court; six years in prison and flogging
The prison and flogging sentence for civil activist Sepideh Farhan (Farahabadi), previously issued by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
A source close to her told VOA on Wednesday, August 2, that the verdict was approved and issued in absentia on July 20 by Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals for this civil activist, and Ms. Farhan appeared in this branch on Monday, August 2, to be notified of the verdict, and the verdict was read to her.
At the same time, the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners reported that Branch 36 of the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals directly confirmed the sentence of six years in prison and 74 lashes for Sepideh Farhan, on charges of “disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings” and “gathering and colluding with the intention of committing crimes against national security,” which had previously been issued by Judge Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
This informed source told VOA: This civil activist did not have access to his case during the retrial, and his chosen lawyer was not accepted by Judge Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, because his lawyer was not on the list of 20 lawyers in the judicial system.
This civil activist has been sentenced to one year and 74 lashes for the charge of "disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings" and to five years in prison for the charge of "gathering and colluding with the intention of committing acts against national security."
Sepideh Farhan was arrested on January 3, 2017, during the nationwide protests in Tehran. After some time, on February 18 of the same year, she was temporarily released from Evin Prison after posting a bail of 250 million Tomans, pending the completion of the trial.
Over the past year, the heavy sentences handed down to students arrested during the January 2017 protests have drawn criticism from students, professors, and human rights activists.
Previously, Ali Mozaffari, a student activist at the University of Tehran who was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence during the nationwide protests in January 2017, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeal.
Also, Leila Hosseinzadeh, another student arrested in January 2017, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on charges such as "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda against the system."
In July of last year, Human Rights Watch issued a statement announcing that Iranian authorities had intensified their repression of protesting students by issuing prison sentences and placing restrictions on peaceful activities.
The US State Department has also repeatedly condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters and opponents of the regime under various pretexts, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
