Sepideh Qolyan was tried again on a new and strange charge: the penalty for asking a simple question.
While civil activist Sepideh Gholian is serving her sentence in Evin Prison, her lawyer has announced that her trial will be held in Dezful on charges of participating in the November protests.
Sepideh Qolyan's lawyer, Jamaluddin Heydari Manesh, announced on Monday, July 6, in a post on his Instagram that Ms. Qolyan has faced a "serious," "unjustified," and "heretical" accusation for attending a protest rally on November 15 last year to protest the high price of gasoline.
The lawyer stated that Ms. Qolyan was unable to appear in Branch 101 of the Dezful Criminal Court and defend herself because she was imprisoned in Evin Prison. He wrote: Her presence, however brief, and her holding of a placard containing only one question, was investigated with the heavy, unjustified, and heretical charge of "disturbing public order on a non-extensive basis," citing the note to Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding "corruption on earth."
Mr. Heidari Manesh posted this picture of Sepideh Qolyan at the November protest in this Instagram post. In the picture, Ms. Qolyan is holding a placard that reads: "You raised the price of gasoline by 300 percent, did you also increase our wages?"
According to Ms. Qolyan's lawyer, the title of the charge brought against this civil activist is considered a new invention for specific cases. She called such an interpretation of the articles of the Penal Code strange and challenging.
Ms. Gholian was transferred to Evin Prison on July 1 to serve a five-year sentence imposed for participating in a protest rally by Nishgar workers in Haft Tappeh. She had said a few days earlier that authorities had asked her to write a letter of pardon to the Leader of the Islamic Republic, but she had refused.
Most of the convicts in the Haft Tappeh sugarcane case were pardoned and released.
Sepideh Qolyan, who was initially arrested on the sidelines of the Haft Tappeh workers' protests, was released a short time later, but was arrested along with Esmaeil Bakhshi after revealing forced confessions and torture. After a while, she was temporarily released on bail of 500 million tomans on November 24, along with several labor activists in Iran. She was also arrested again at her father's house on Saturday night, November 25, after attending the popular protests in November, and was finally temporarily released on December 12, after posting bail of 200 million tomans.
This civil activist was sentenced to seven years in prison for "gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security," seven years for membership in the Gam group, one year and six months for propaganda activities against the regime, and two years and six months for spreading lies. According to Sepideh Gholian's lawyer, she has been transferred to prison to serve her five-year sentence.
The US State Department has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
