Kurdish Writer and Researcher Sentenced to 69 Months in Prison in Trial Without Defense Lawyer

In recent days, Mojgan Kavoosi, a Kurdish writer and researcher from Calardasht, was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison by the primary court of Nowshahr.

This writer and researcher announced the news on her Instagram page, stating that her court hearing was held without her having access to a defense lawyer. Ms. Kavoosi wrote that she was sentenced by the primary court of Nowshahr to 2 years and 9 months in prison on charges of “membership in opposition groups,” to 2 years and 6 months in prison on charges of “inciting people to breach public order,” and to 6 months in prison on charges of “propaganda against the system.”

This verdict was issued for Ms. Kavoosi at a time when, if confirmed and according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding the consolidation of sentences, only 2 years and 9 months of this sentence would be enforceable.

Based on available information, Mojgan Kavoosi was arrested by security forces on Monday, November 18, and after 22 days of detention in the Sari Revolutionary Guards detention facility, she was transferred to the women’s ward of Nowshahr Prison. She was ultimately released on bail on December 19 temporarily until the end of legal proceedings.

This is not the first time a writer and researcher has been sentenced to prison. Previously, Voice of America reported that Amin Masouri, a writer and researcher from Khorramabad, who had been sentenced to two years in prison by the second branch of Khorramabad Revolutionary Court on charges such as “propaganda against the system” and “insulting the Supreme Leader,” was transferred to the central prison of the city on Wednesday, November 1, to serve his sentence after the sentence was confirmed by the appeals court.

Amnesty International called 2018 a “year of shame” for the Islamic Republic in a report last February, announcing that more than 7,000 people, including protest participants, students, journalists, women’s rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and activists for minority and ethnic rights, were arrested in Iran during that year.