Temporary Release of 6 Political Prisoners with Heavy Bail and End of Ibrahim Firoozi’s Sentence

One ideological prisoner whose sentence ended and six political prisoners with heavy bail were released on Saturday, November 4, from Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj, Evin Prison in Tehran, and Qarchak Prison in Varamin. Sepideh Qolian, Atefeh Rangriz, Marzieh Amiri, Sanaz Allahyari, Amir Amirqoli, and Amirhassan Mohammadifard are six political prisoners who were arrested in connection with Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers’ protests and were released today, Saturday, until their trial is held and a final verdict is issued.

Esmail Bakhshi, Nada Naji, and Asel Mohammadi are three other political prisoners who were arrested in connection with Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers’ protests and remain imprisoned.

Ibrahim Firoozi, a Bahai Christian, was released from Rajaei Shahr Prison after completing his sentence.

Sepideh Qolian was released on bail of 1 billion and 500 million tomans until a final verdict is issued by the Appeals Court, while she had been on a dry hunger strike since Sunday, October 19, in protest of judicial and security pressures on her family and demanded the presence of a delegation from the judiciary in Qarchak Prison. Ms. Qolian was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Mohammad Moghiseh in connection with the Haft Tappeh protesting workers’ case, and according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, seven years of this sentence should be executed. According to Heidari Manesh, Sepideh Qolian’s lawyer, she was accused of assembly and conspiracy against national security, membership in the Gam group, propaganda activities against the system, and spreading false information.

Atefeh Rangriz, a women’s rights activist, went on hunger strike starting Wednesday, October 16, in Qarchak Prison in Varamin in protest of the unfair process of reviewing her case and declared that “I will turn my body into a weapon against injustice.”

Atefeh Rangriz was temporarily released on bail of 1 billion tomans and until a final verdict is issued by the Appeals Court. She is a Master’s student of sociology and a women’s rights activist who was arrested on April 1, 2019, coinciding with International Workers’ Day during a protest gathering in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison and 74 lashes by Mohammad Moghiseh, judge of Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, on charges of assembly and conspiracy against national security and disruption of public order.

Marzieh Amiri, a journalist at Shargh newspaper and a social sciences student at Tehran University, was also released from Evin Prison with a bail of 1 billion tomans and until the end of legal proceedings. Ms. Amiri was arrested on April 1, 2019, during the day of workers’ protests in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison and 148 lashes by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Moghiseh, with 6 years of imprisonment being enforceable according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.

Amirhassan Mohammadifard, editor-in-chief, and Sanaz Allahyari, member of the editorial board of the student publication Gam, who were arrested on January 9, 2019, at their home in Tehran following Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers’ protests, were released from Evin Prison with bail of 850 million tomans. Mr. Mohammadifard and his wife, Ms. Allahyari, were members of the editorial board of Gam who were arrested and each sentenced to 18 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court due to coverage of workers’ protests, particularly Haft Tappeh protests, with 7 years of each sentence being enforceable.

Sanaz Allahyari and her husband are accused of three charges: “affiliation with opposing groups and parties, assembly and conspiracy against national security,” and “forming a group with the intention of undermining national security.” Their final defense statements were taken in Branch 7 of Evin Prison’s investigation unit in April 2019, but their court date has not yet been set.

Sanaz Allahyari, born in 1987, holds a degree in economics and was previously arrested again in March 2009 for membership in the Free and Egalitarian Student Group (DAB) and spent 17 days in Evin Prison. She was later sentenced in the Revolutionary Court to five years of suspended imprisonment on charges of actions against national security.

Amir Amirqoli, another member of Gam publication who covers labor news more extensively, was also released from Evin Prison on bail of 1 billion and 500 million tomans until the end of legal proceedings. He was arrested on January 9, 2019, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court.

Asel Mohammadi, another member of Gam publication and a pharmacy student at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tehran Azad University, a civil activist and pharmacy student at the Pharmaceutical Sciences Unit of Azad University of Tehran, who was arrested during Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers’ protests and spent time in the Ahvaz Information Detention Center, published an account on her Instagram page of the torture of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian and was arrested again; she remains imprisoned. Nada Naji, a civil activist and women’s rights activist who was arrested during the International Workers’ Day protests, remains indefinitely imprisoned. Jamal Ameli, husband of Ms. Naji, announced that Nada Naji’s first trial will be held on November 13 in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court.

Esmail Bakhshi, a Haft Tappeh Sugar Company worker, remains imprisoned. He was arrested on November 18, 2018, on the fourteenth day of the widespread Haft Tappeh workers’ protest and was released from prison on December 11 with bail until his sentence was issued. On December 30, 2018, he posted on his Instagram page about the severe physical and psychological torture he endured during his 25 days of detention by the Ministry of Intelligence under the Hassan Rouhani government and challenged the intelligence minister to a televised debate and accountability for what happened to him. He was arrested again on January 4, 2019, and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Ibrahim Firoozi, a Bahai Christian who had been sentenced to 5 years in prison and 2 years in exile, was released from Rajaei Shahr Prison after completing his sentence. Mr. Firoozi, a 32-year-old lathe worker and resident of Robat Karim, has been imprisoned three times so far on charges of converting to Christianity and holding religious gatherings.

Source: Human Rights Campaign