Sepideh Qolian Did Not Write Pardon Request to Leader, Was Imprisoned

The imprisonment sentence of Sepideh Qolian, a civil activist in Iran, has been executed despite the labor rights activist announcing that the judge enforcing the sentence had threatened her with immediate imprisonment if she did not submit a pardon request to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.

Sepideh Qolian was transferred to Evin Prison on Sunday, the first day of Tir month in 1399 (June 21, 2020). One day earlier, on Saturday the 31st of Khordad month, in an explanation she posted on her Twitter page, she stated that she was not included in the pardon in the case known as Haft Tappeh and that when she referred to the enforcement of sentences, the judge asked her to write a pardon request to the Supreme Leader.

In a video she posted on Twitter, she said: “When I entered Evin courthouse, the judge of the first branch of sentence enforcement told a soldier to send Ms. Qolian inside. I asked what the pardon process is? They said write a pardon request to the Supreme Leader so we can see what we can do for you. When I said I won’t write a pardon request, they said you will be detained and transferred to Qarchak Prison.”

However, she was released on bail the same day and transferred to Evin Prison the next day.

Ms. Qolian was sentenced in September 1398 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Mohammad Moghisseh and in the case of the labor publication “Gam” to a total of 18 years in prison, of which based on Article 1 of the Islamic Penal Code, seven years were enforceable. Her sentence was reduced to five years imprisonment in the appeals court. According to Haidari Manesh, Sepideh Qolian’s lawyer, she was accused of conspiring against national security, membership in the Gam group, propaganda activity against the system, and spreading false information.

Sepideh Qolian reported the holding of her appeals court hearings and other labor activists in absentia and announced that “the prison superintendent told me that appeals court hearings would no longer be held, but Mr. Raisi ordered the Haft Tappeh case to be held in the presence of the head of the Revolutionary Court. Not only was a court hearing not held, but also bulk sentences were issued so that the mockery of justice would be more disgraceful than before.”

Ms. Qolian wrote on her personal Instagram and Twitter: “I do not recognize any legitimacy for these sentences and I knew from the beginning that our temporary release was nothing but a theatrical carnival for officials. In the coming days, I will continue my protests in any way possible.”

Jamal Haidari-Manesh, Sepideh Qolian’s lawyer, also announced in an interview with ILNA news agency that “his client’s sentence was finalized without holding a trial session, while holding this session could have helped clarify the matter and issue a fair judgment.”

This labor rights activist has two other cases and has been accused of “propaganda against the system” for publishing news about Arab prisoners and of “spreading false information” for exposing the role of interrogator-journalist Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour, a reporter for IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting), and was released on a bail of 180 million tomans. She reported the active presence of Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour in her interrogations and announced: “In the stages of producing the documentary ‘Burnt Design,’ Ms. Ameneh Sadat Zibahpour was present in the interrogation room so that after hours of physical and psychological torture, she could provide us with a text that had been prepared beforehand to read in front of the camera.”

Burnt Design was a quasi-documentary that was broadcast by IRIB against labor activists including Sepideh Qolian.

Sepideh Qolian was transferred to prison at a time when in Khordad month 1399, the Judiciary’s media center announced the pardon of a number of prisoners including those detained in the Haft Tappeh case.

Sepideh Qolian, born in 1374, a civil activist from Ahvaz, was arrested on November 27, 1397 during several days of protests by workers of Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory in Khuzestan along with Esmail Bakhshi, a labor activist, and several other workers. She was released one month later on December 27 on a bail of 500 million tomans.

After Esmail Bakhshi, the representative of Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory workers, wrote in an Instagram post about his torture during his detention and called the Minister of Intelligence to account, Sepideh Qolian also wrote on her Twitter about the torture of Esmail Bakhshi and herself.

Despite efforts by their lawyers to seek justice for torture and harassment during detention, on the evening of December 29, a documentary called “Burnt Design” was broadcast on IRIB’s 20:30 news network containing confessions from Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian in front of the camera. In this program, they were introduced as being affiliated with groups opposed to the Islamic Republic.

In response to the broadcast of her confessions on television, Sepideh Qolian demanded on Twitter to hold an open court: “These images that were broadcast of me were another witness to prove my claims about being tortured during my detention. I will pursue my torture more seriously than before and now that my confessions have been broadcast, I demand that my trial be held openly.”

Sepideh Qolian and Esmail Bakhshi were arrested again on the morning of December 30 by officers. During Sepideh’s arrest, officers also arrested her brother Amir Qolian. Amir Qolian was released on February 1 on a bail of 100 million tomans from Ahvaz detention center, and Sepideh Qolian in this case was released with a bail of 1 billion and 500 million tomans in Aban month 1398.

Source: Human Rights Campaign