A civil activist's 53-month prison sentence was upheld by the appeals court.
The 53-month prison sentence of imprisoned civil activist Rezvaneh Ahmad Khanbeigi, previously issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, was upheld by the Court of Appeals.
The Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners announced in a report on Wednesday, December 10, that the four-year and five-month prison sentence of this civil activist, who was issued in March of last year on charges of "gathering and colluding against national security" and "propaganda against the Islamic system," was upheld in its entirety by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals.
According to this report, the ruling issued by the aforementioned branch has been communicated to Behfar Lalehzari, the husband of Ms. Ahmad Khan Beigi, and Hossein Taj, her lawyer.
According to this report, this civil activist, who was temporarily released from Evin Prison in mid-March of last year after posting a bail of 150 million Tomans and pending the completion of the trial, was arrested again on Sunday, November 16, and transferred to Ward 2-A of Evin Prison.
Rezvaneh Ahmad Khanbeigi was previously arrested on January 9, 2018, along with Amir Mehdi Seddiq Ara and Ali Amin Amalshi on a joint charge, and in March of the same year, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced them to a total of more than five years in prison.
Amir Mehdi Sediq Ara and Ali Amin Amalshi were acquitted of the "charge of propaganda against the system" in this case, and each of them was sentenced to 91 days in prison on the charge of "gathering and colluding against national security."
This is not the first time that a civil activist has been sentenced to long sentences in Iran. Previously, imprisoned civil activist Neda Naji was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Moghiseh, on charges such as “insulting government officials” and “gathering and colluding.”
According to a report by Amnesty International, in 2018, more than seven thousand people, including participants in demonstrations, students, journalists, women's rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and ethnic and religious minority rights activists, were arrested in Iran, and hundreds were sentenced to prison.
The US State Department also says that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other trade unions in the last two years.
The United States has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters and civil activists, 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
