Another Court Case for Sepideh Qolian; Imprisoned Civil Activist to Face Trial Over Journalist’s Complaint
While Sepideh Qolian, a civil activist, remains in custody, a court session for this imprisoned civil activist is scheduled to be held on the 2nd of Azar this year over a complaint filed by a state broadcaster journalist.
Jamal Haidari Manesh, the lawyer defending Ms. Qolian, announced the news on his Instagram story, writing that with a complaint from Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour and accompaniment by the Ministry of Intelligence, the hearing date for Sepideh Qolian’s charges has been scheduled for next week. He also reminded: “Ms. Sepideh Qolian’s documented complaint against Ms. Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour regarding the television program ‘Burnt Design’ was rejected with a non-prosecution order, and an appeal against this decision has not yet reached a conclusion.”
Previously, Sepideh Qolian had written in tweets that Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour, a state broadcaster journalist who was present in the interrogation room during the production stages of the television program ‘Burnt Design’, gave Sepideh Qolian a pre-written text to read in front of the camera.
This imprisoned civil activist in Iran stated on the 20th of Bahman that after appearing at the Third Branch of Evin Investigation, she was charged with “propaganda against the regime” for publicizing news of Arab prisoners and with “spreading lies” for exposing the role of interrogator-journalist Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour, and was temporarily released with a bail of 180 million rials.
Sepideh Qolian, who was arrested following her exposure of forced confessions and torture along with Ismail Bakhshi and was later temporarily released on the 4th of Aban with several labor activists in Iran with a bail of 500 million tomans, was arrested again at her father’s house on the night of Saturday, the 25th of Aban 1398, following her participation in public protests. She was then temporarily released on the 12th of Azar by posting a bail of 200 million tomans.
On the 1st of Tir, this civil activist in Iran was transferred to Evin Prison to serve her five-year sentence. Before her transfer to prison, by publishing a video on her Twitter page, she announced that she had refused to give an undertaking to introduce herself to prison after referring to the Evin Prosecutor’s Office for enforcement of sentences, and opposed submitting a pardon petition to Khamenei.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violent crackdowns and widespread suppression of protesters in various instances, as well as the repeated and continuous violation of the rights of Iranian citizens by the regime governing the country.
Source: Voice of America
