Continued Suppression of Civil Activists in Iran; Couple from Kurdistan Province Sentenced to Prison
A couple of civil activists from Iran’s Kurdistan Province who refused to appear at their court hearing in mid-November in protest against the unfair judicial process of their case have been sentenced to suspended imprisonment after their arrest and court appearance.
An informed source who requested anonymity for security reasons told Voice of America that the couple, named Farida Visi and Sirous Abbasi, were arrested on December 30 by security forces in the city of Dehgolan after refusing to appear at their second court session on Monday, November 12, following the issuance of an arrest warrant. They were then transferred to Branch One of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Saeidi for trial.
According to the informed source, a verdict of one year suspended imprisonment for three years was issued on Tuesday, January 14, and was announced to them upon their appearance at the Revolutionary Court.
The informed source also told Voice of America that these two civil activists, who faced multiple charges at the time of their arrest including actions against national security, membership in opposition Kurdish parties, and several other charges, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence on these charges and were convicted only on the charge of “propaganda against the system.”
According to the source, the examples of propaganda against the system cited in the court ruling included “marching and filming a rejection of the death sentence of the late Ramin Hossein Panahi, organizing a protest gathering in Dehgolan in opposition to Turkey’s attack on Rojava Kurdistan (Syrian Kurdistan), and participating in a gathering in front of Sanandaj’s judiciary in protest against the arrest of Zahra Mohammadi, a Kurdish language teacher.” These instances, according to the informed source, are all considered “civil activities” and none of them constitute “crimes.”
An informed source had previously told Voice of America that these two civil activists were violently arrested on December 15, 2019, during a raid by security and intelligence forces in Dehgolan at their workplace, the scientific and educational center “Zansst.” According to that informed source, they spent at least two months in one of Sanandaj’s prisons, known as “the main reform and rehabilitation center,” and during that time each of them was tortured and forced to make involuntary confessions on camera.
These two civil activists were ultimately released on March 16 of that year on a temporary basis and pending the completion of legal proceedings after posting a total of 150 million tomans in bail following the end of interrogations.
Human rights organizations say that the Islamic Republic does not fairly address charges, and sometimes innocent people have been tried and even executed.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violent treatment and widespread suppression of protesters, as well as the repeated and continuous violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
