Prison Sentence of Civil Activist Sepideh Farhan Upheld by Appeals Court; Six Years Imprisonment and Lashing
The prison and lashing sentence of Sepideh Farhan (Farah-Abadi), a civil activist previously issued by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, has been upheld by the appellate court.
A source close to her told Voice of America on Wednesday, July 24: The sentence was issued in absentia on July 20 by Branch 36 of the appellate court for this civil activist, and Ms. Farhan appeared on Monday, July 24 in this branch for notification of the ruling, and the issued sentence was read to her.
Simultaneously, the campaign defending political and civil prisoners reported that Branch 36 of the Tehran Province appellate court upheld the sentence of six years imprisonment and 74 lashes for Sepideh Farhan, for the charges of “disrupting public order through participation in illegal gatherings” and “assembly and conspiracy with intent to commit acts against national security” that had previously been issued by Judge Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, exactly as it was.
This informed source told Voice of America: This civil activist did not have access to her case file during the retrial, and her chosen lawyer was rejected by Judge Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, because her lawyer was not on the list of 20 judicial system lawyers.
This civil activist was sentenced to one year and 74 lashes for the charge of “disrupting public order through participation in illegal gatherings” and to five years imprisonment for the charge of “assembly and conspiracy with intent to commit acts against national security.”
Sepideh Farhan was arrested on December 3, 2017 during the nationwide December protests in Tehran and after some time, on February 18 of that year, was temporarily released from Evin Prison upon payment of a 250 million toman bail until the completion of legal proceedings.
In the past year, the heavy sentences of students arrested during the December 2017 protests have drawn criticism from students, professors, and human rights activists.
Previously, “Ali Mozaffari,” a student activist at Tehran University who was arrested by Tehran Ministry of Intelligence officials during the nationwide December 2017 protests, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment by the Tehran Province appellate court.
Likewise, “Leila Hossein-zadeh,” another student arrested in December 2017 on charges such as “assembly and conspiracy” and “propaganda against the system,” was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment.
Last July, Human Rights Watch issued a statement stating that Iranian authorities have intensified the suppression of protesting students through issuance of prison sentences and creating restrictions on peaceful activities.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violent conduct and widespread suppression of protesters and opponents of the regime under various pretexts, as well as repeated and continuous violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
