Sepideh Qolyan: I will not participate in this strange trial
In response to her summons to court for a hearing, Sepideh Qolyan wrote: "I will not participate in this strange trial."
Sepideh Gholian, a civil activist who is serving her sentence in Evin Prison, was summoned to Branch 1207 of the Criminal Division of Shahid Kachhui Judicial Complex in Tehran on July 19 for a court hearing to hear her charges.
The reason for her presence at the aforementioned judicial complex was a complaint filed by “Amneh Sadat Zabihpour,” an IRIB reporter. The charges brought against Ms. Qolyan include “disturbing public opinion by spreading lies in cyberspace” and “propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic in cyberspace.”
In response to this summons, Sepideh Qolyan announced: "The new news is something between anger and laughter. A charge for which a trial was previously held and a verdict was issued is about to be held again! This means that I have been summoned to court on a charge that has already been heard by Branch 24 of the Revolutionary Court."
Ms. Qolyan, while emphasizing her refusal to participate in such a trial, continued: "The judiciary of the Islamic Republic, an institution that has sentenced several people to death in trials lasting only a few minutes in just one year and executed the sentence within a few days, in my view has neither jurisdiction nor legitimacy. Therefore, I will not participate in this strange trial."
It should be noted that Sepideh Qolyan was forced to confess after her arrest in 2018, and after her release, she emphasized that Amen Sadat Zabihpour, a reporter for the program "Bist-o-Si," participated in extracting her confession. She also stated that during the production stages of the "burnt drawing," Amen Sadat Zabihpour was present in the interrogation room so that, after hours of physical and mental torture, she could provide them with a text she had prepared in advance to read in front of the camera.
Sepideh had also filed a complaint against Amine Sadat for her role in extracting a forced confession, but the judicial system closed the complaint against her and issued a restraining order against her.
