Security Crackdowns Continue Against Protesters of Ukrainian Plane Downing; Theater Producer Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
In continuation of security crackdowns against protesters opposing the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by the Revolutionary Guards, a theater producer has now been sentenced to three years in prison.
Masoud Hakam-Abadi, a researcher and theater producer in Iran, was among those who protested the downing of the Ukrainian plane by boycotting his theater group’s participation in the government-sponsored Fajr Festival last year.
Some Iranian media outlets have reported that Mr. Hakam-Abadi has been accused of anti-regime propaganda activities and insulting Ayatollah Khomeini, and have written that the boycott of the Fajr Festival is one of the reasons for this theater producer’s conviction to three years in prison.
It was previously reported that members of three theater groups in Mashhad, which were the first groups to withdraw from the Fajr Festival, were arrested and subsequently issued a statement regarding their return to the festival.
Human Rights Watch also reported that the judicial system of the Islamic Republic, in late April 2020, convicted at least 13 people to lengthy prison sentences solely for peaceful protest against the deadly attack by the Revolutionary Guards on the Ukrainian plane and the Iranian government’s initial denial of the attack on the passenger aircraft.
Earlier in January, Gholamhossein Ismaili, spokesman for the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, told reporters that approximately 30 people were arrested in connection with the protests, and an unspecified number were also detained in connection with the targeting of the plane.
At dawn on Wednesday, the 18th of Dey, a Boeing 737 passenger aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines with 176 passengers aboard was shot down by the air defense system of the Revolutionary Guards Corps shortly after takeoff from Tehran airport. After several days of Iranian officials insisting that the plane’s crash was due to a technical fault, the Revolutionary Guards eventually announced that the plane had been targeted by mistake.
Source: Voice of America
