Former Shiraz City Council Member Arrested for Supporting Two Baha'is, Sentenced to Prison and Exile
Mehdi Hajati, a civil activist and former member of the Shiraz City Council, who was detained for a period of time in October 2018 for writing a tweet in support of two Baha'i citizens, was sentenced to prison and exile by the Revolutionary Court.
On Wednesday, September 9, this civil activist announced on his Instagram page that he had been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Mahmoud Sadati, to one year in prison and two years in exile in Birjand on charges of "propaganda activity against the regime."
According to Mehdi Hajati, the hearing of the second part of the case of this former member of the Shiraz City Council, on charges of "spreading lies", will be held on Saturday, September 12.
Earlier, Voice of America reported that Mr. Hajati wrote on his Twitter account in October 2018 about his efforts to release two Baha'i citizens: "I have spent the past ten days knocking on every door to release two detained Baha'i friends, but I have not achieved any results. Our generation is obligated to continue working to reform judicial procedures and other matters that endanger social justice as long as we stand against foreign enemies."
Mehdi Hajati was detained for a while after supporting two Baha'i citizens, and after his release, he was not allowed to attend the council for a while. Despite returning to the council, he was arrested again by security forces in his home in mid-June 2019, and was finally temporarily released on bail from Adelabad Prison in Shiraz on Thursday, February 25.
It should be noted that it was in August 2019 that the governor of Shiraz announced the identification of Mehdi Hajati's replacement in the city council, and said that the second alternate member of the council was invited to replace him, but he declined. A third person, "Mohammad Taqi Tazarvi," was invited again, and it is planned that he will be introduced and officially replace Hajati in the first upcoming meeting of the council.
The United States has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters and civil activists, 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
