Three protesters against compulsory hijab in Iran "sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison"
The lawyer for two of the three female citizens protesting against the mandatory hijab who are being held in Qarchak Prison told the HRANA website that the three have been sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison.
Amir Raisian added that if the verdict is finalized, "the most severe punishment, namely 10 years of imprisonment, will be applicable to each of them."
According to a report published by HRANA, the verdict was announced without the presence of the three women's lawyers, and only with the presence of Mojgan Keshavarz, Monireh Arabshahi, and Yasman Ariani, the three imprisoned protesters.
Amir Raissan, the lawyer for Munireh Arabshahi and Yasman Ariani, also told the news-analytical website Ensaf News, "It seems that the sentence of ten years of penal servitude is enforceable."
In an interview with Ensaf News, Mr. Raisan emphasized that he has not yet received the details of the verdict and cannot yet comment on the verdicts issued in other criminal cases.
The charges brought by the Islamic Republic's judiciary against Ms. Arabshahi, Keshavarz, and Aryani include "gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security," "propaganda against the system," "encouraging and providing the means for corruption and prostitution," and in addition, in the case of Mojgan Keshavarz, "insulting sacred places."
Mr. Raisian says, "During the course of the case, neither during the interrogation phase at the prosecutor's office nor during the court hearings, lawyers were not allowed to enter at all."
This issue had previously been raised by Amnesty International, which said the three women were “being held in prison without access to a lawyer.”
Mojgan Keshavarz, Monireh Arabshahi, and Yasman Ariani were reportedly arrested in connection with a video posted on social media. In the video, recorded on the occasion of International Women's Day, the three are seen distributing flowers to female passengers on the Tehran Metro without headscarves and discussing their hopes for women's rights in Iran.
Amnesty International said their arrests were "part of a widespread crackdown and arrests of women's rights activists and protesters against the compulsory hijab that began in January 2018."
In another statement released on July 14, Amnesty International said that the detained protesters are "being held in inappropriate conditions" and that the Islamic Republic is "cruelly trying" to force them to make "televised confessions."
The broadcasting of "televised confessions" on state television in the Islamic Republic has a history and has been done in the case of other groups of individuals, including civil and political protesters, as well as those detained for security and economic issues.
The trial of Ms. Arabshahi, Ms. Keshavarz, and Ms. Ariani was presided over by Judge Moghiseh. Mohammad Moghiseh, head of Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, was the judge in the trial of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Bahareh Hedayat, and many other political and civil protesters arrested in Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
