Guardian Says Girl Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison in Iran is ‘Ares Amiri’
Hours after the Islamic Republic announced a ten-year prison sentence for a young woman, the Guardian website reported that this person is ‘Ares Amiri,’ a 33-year-old student who was arrested by the Islamic Republic last year.
Hours after the Islamic Republic announced a ten-year prison sentence for a young woman, the Guardian website reported that this person is ‘Ares Amiri,’ a 33-year-old student who was arrested by the Islamic Republic last year.
Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesman for the Judiciary, said on Monday, 23 Ordibehesht, without naming Ms. Amiri, that a person who was ‘in charge of Iran’s desk at the English Cultural Council,’ known as ‘British Council,’ has been sentenced to ten years in prison.
Few details about this girl’s arrest have been announced, but it was revealed in statements by Iranian judicial officials that she had been arrested more than a year ago and is now sentenced to ten years. No information has been released about the course of her trial and this person’s access to a lawyer.
Ares Amiri, a 33-year-old student who had previously traveled to Iran multiple times, was arrested by Intelligence Ministry agents in Esfand 1396 five days after she traveled to Iran to visit her sick grandmother.
Shortly after, this Iranian student from Kingston University in Britain, who was arrested by Intelligence Ministry agents and transferred to Evin Prison, was released from prison in 1397 after posting a bail of 500 million tomans.
However, she was arrested again in Shahrivar last year and no news has been reported about her since.
Mohsen Omrani, Ares Amiri’s cousin, had announced at the time of her first arrest that ‘Ares worked at the British Cultural Council because of her field of study.’
In recent years, several Iranians living in Britain have been arrested after traveling to Iran. Among them is Nazanin Zaghari, who was arrested about three years ago by Revolutionary Guards along with her young daughter at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran upon returning to London and was sentenced to five years in prison by the court.
Western analysts say the Islamic Republic uses dual-national individuals as hostages to extract money and concessions from Western governments.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, in his latest report released about nine months ago, expressed concern about the detention of dual nationals in Iran and said these arrests are a source of deep concern and a striking example of failure to follow legal procedures in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
