Three years in prison and 74 lashes for a student for criticizing the leader and the country's officials
A source familiar with the situation of Mojtaba Dadashi , a political science student who was sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes for publishing a critical video, told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran : “ This young man was convicted of three charges in a single court session and in secret, just because of a six- or seven-minute critical video he published in February. This is sheer injustice, and the court’s outcome is just a sign of political revenge. ”
Mojtaba Dadashi, born in 1995, a final-semester student of the Political Science Department at Hakim Sabzevari University in Sabzevar, was charged with two charges of “ insulting the leadership ” and “ propaganda against the system ” in the Sabzevar Revolutionary Court, and also with the charge of “ insulting the heads of the branches ” in the Sabzevar Criminal Court for publishing the aforementioned video. Both of these trials were held in private by Judge Mohammad Gholami on the same day ( March 15, 2018 ) and in one session. According to the verdict he received on April 4, he was sentenced to two years in prison for the charge of insulting the leadership, one year in prison for the charge of propaganda against the system, and 74 lashes for the charge of insulting the heads of the three branches.
On February 5, 2018, in a several-minute video posted on his Twitter page, Mojtaba Dadashi, after introducing himself as “ a person protesting against the existing oppression and oppression ,” mentioned the Iranian government’s response to workers and women with batons. He said, “This system is for a minority that has been sucking the blood of this country for forty years. This system is for the aghazadehs, not for you and me.. ”
A source familiar with Mojtaba Dadashi's situation told the Campaign about the manner of his arrest : " Mojtaba released this video on February 15, and one day after the February 12 march, a summons was sent to him by the Third Branch of the Sabzevar Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office with a fabricated complaint that he must present himself to the prosecutor's office. Mojtaba went to the prosecutor's office the next day, on February 14, but was arrested there and sent to Sabzevar Prison. He immediately went on a hunger strike to protest the manner of his arrest and the fact that he had not committed a crime. Mojtaba was released four days later on bail of 200 million tomans. "
The source said about the inappropriate treatment of the student during his four days of detention : " The student's head was shaved. He was taken to prison in handcuffs and shackles, and during a court session he was treated with disrespect. This is not befitting a student of this country. He only criticized and did not commit a crime. "
His trial on the three charges will be held almost a month later, on March 15, and he will be sentenced less than a month later.
The source stated that Mojtaba Dadashi was not appealing because of the unfair trial process, saying : " He is not even appealing as a sign of protest against his sentence, which was issued in an illegal process. If he appeals, it means that he has accepted the trial process, which is not the case at all. Mojtaba did not have a lawyer because he thought he would definitely be acquitted. He wrote a comprehensive defense bill himself and appeared on the day of the trial with several of his professors, but they said the trial was closed and his professors were not allowed to attend. "
This source told the campaign about his other activities : " Mujtaba only occasionally wrote his critical opinions about the political and social situation of society on Twitter and his Telegram channel. Once in January 2017, during the popular protests, when Alam al-Huda, the Friday prayer imam of Mashhad, went to Sabzevar University to give a speech, he announced his protest in this speech. Pieces of his criticism in Alam al-Huda's speech were also published on websites. But apart from these, he has had no other activities ."
After his sentence was announced, Mojtaba Dadashi posted a video on his Twitter account describing his sentence as cruel. In the video, he said: “I was tried on irrelevant charges for criticizing reformist and fundamentalist officials of the regime and the Supreme Leader himself, and now I have been sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes in the most cruel way possible.” He continued: “While Mr. Khamenei said in Mashhad on April 1, 2018 that the opponents of the government are free and that no one is going to protest against them, I was treated in the worst possible way.”
In the video, he invited the Iranian leader and government officials to a debate: "I invite Mr. Khamenei and senior officials of the regime to a public debate. Mr. Khamenei, reformist and fundamentalist officials are not afraid of the people...", "I am sure that the people's bowl will soon be full. My back is ready for your whips.", "The problem in our country is the hijab, discrimination, or poverty and suffocation."
Source: Human Rights Campaign
