Continued Suppression of Civil Activists in Iran; Two Azerbaijani Activists Sentenced to Prison and Flogging

Ali Kheirjoo and Mithaam Joolani, two Azerbaijani civil activists, have been sentenced by the Criminal Court of Ardabil to a combined four months in prison and 40 lashes.

A well-informed source close to these two Azerbaijani activists told Voice of America that the court session for Ali Kheirjoo and Mithaam Joolani was held on November 2 (11 Azar) without the presence of a defense lawyer in Branch 110 of the Criminal Court of Ardabil, presided over by Judge Sajjad Habibi. In this session, each of these Azerbaijani activists was sentenced to two months of punitive detention and 20 lashes on charges of “participating in disruption of public order through creating chaos and commotion.” The verdict was electronically notified to these activists residing in Ardabil on Tuesday, December 16 (25 Azar).

According to this source, the basis for this charge was the posts and writings of these civil activists in cyberspace; writings that, according to him, interrogators in the case had sometimes shown to these two civil activists during interrogations. These writings pertained to cultural demands, legal complaints, writings on language and identity based on human rights conventions, statements from human rights organizations, and international declarations regarding minority rights.

This informed source told Voice of America that these civil activists faced three charges at the time of arrest and have been investigated in two separate cases. According to him, one case was referred to the criminal court, while another case with two charges of “propaganda activity against the system” and “assembly and conspiracy to act against national security” was referred to the Revolutionary Court.

According to this aware source, the court session for the second case of Ali Kheirjoo and Mithaam Joolani was held on December 9 (18 Azar) in Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Ardabil, presided over by Judge Qadimi. In this session, another charge titled “membership in anti-system groups and channels in cyberspace” was added to their accumulated charges.

This source states that the judge in the Revolutionary Court, while declaring the existing documents in the case unconvincing, referred the case back to the prosecutor’s office.

These two civil activists were arrested following their participation in protest gatherings in Urmia that were held in support of the military action of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Karabakh. They were arrested on October 1 (10 Mehr) when Ministry of Intelligence agents raided their homes. Eventually, on October 30 (8 Aban), each was temporarily released from Ardabil Central Prison on bail of 300 million tomans pending the completion of legal proceedings.

This informed source told Voice of America that Ali Kheirjoo’s wife, who went to Ardabil’s prosecution office to follow up on her husband’s situation after the arrest of these two Ardabil residents, was arrested on charges of disrupting courtroom order. Mrs. Kheirjoo was eventually released after 24 hours.

This is not the first time an Azerbaijani activist has been arrested or sentenced to prison following an unfair trial. Voice of America previously reported that as part of the ongoing suppression of civil activists, dissidents, and opponents of the policies of the ruling regime in Iran, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has sentenced another Azerbaijani civil activist named Salar Tahir Afshar to four years in prison.