Four years after being arrested at Cyrus Day ceremony; three civil society activists sentenced to a total of 56 years in prison

Three civil society activists living in Mashhad, who were arrested by security forces near Marvdasht after participating in the Cyrus Day ceremony in 2016, were recently sentenced to a total of 56 years in prison by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court.

An informed source, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told VOA that the trial of Ali Spantameh, Seyyed Mohsen Mir Aftab Shohre, and Majid Rahimzadeh Naskhi was held on October 17, 2018, after four years, in the sixth branch of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Hossein Bahmanabadi. According to this informed source, the verdict was delivered to the three civil society activists in person on Wednesday, November 27.

According to this informed source, based on the issued verdict, Ali Spantameh was sentenced to 18 years in prison for "participating in the formation of the Spantameh group through the establishment and management of the Spantameh Telegram channel with the intention of disrupting the security of the country", "membership in groups opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran", "propaganda activity against the regime" and "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic", and Mohsen Mir Aftab was sentenced to 17 years in prison for "membership in a group opposed to the regime", "insulting the leadership", "insulting the sacred places" and "participating in the formation of the Spantameh group through the establishment of the Spantameh Telegram channel with the intention of disrupting the security of the country". Majid Rahimzadeh Naskhi was also sentenced to 21 years in prison for "membership in a group opposed to the regime", "participating in the formation of the Spantameh group through the establishment of the Spantameh Telegram group with the intention of disrupting the security of the country", "insulting the leadership" and "propaganda against the regime".

According to this informed source, these charges were brought against the three civil society activists in court without any evidence, proof, or documentation being presented against them, and these activists, who live in Mashhad, were faced with these charges solely because they formed a literary association in which they discussed Iranian history through literature while reciting the Shahnameh. The issued verdict also shows that these sentences were issued solely based on a report and indictment prepared and submitted to the court by the Mashhad Intelligence Department, alleging that they were promoting Zoroastrianism and fighting the regime under the guise of reciting the Shahnameh, Ali Spantameh's speech at the Cyrus Day ceremony in 2016 in Pasargadae, and forming a group in cyberspace called the Friends of Spantameh.

This informed source told VOA that the three civil society activists were arrested on November 1, 2016, three days after attending the Cyrus Day ceremony, along with five other citizens living in Mashhad near Marvdasht, and were temporarily released from Marvdasht's Dowlat Abad Prison after posting a 30 million toman bail in late November of that year.

According to this informed source, the Marvdasht prosecutor has transferred the case to the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, announcing that "the plaintiff is the Mashhad Intelligence Department."

It should be noted that if these sentences are confirmed by the Court of Appeal, based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, 10 years of the sentences issued to Mr. Spantameh and Rahimzadeh Naskhi and 5 years of the sentence issued to Mr. Mir Aftab Shohre will be implemented as the maximum punishment.

This is not the first time that civil society and political activists in Iran have been arrested and sentenced to prison terms on trumped-up charges after attending the Cyrus Day ceremony in Pasargad, Shiraz. Yasmin Hanifeh Tabatabaei, a political activist and member of the Democratic Front of Iran Council, who was arrested in November last year on her way to Pasargad, was sentenced by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court to one year in prison, four months of forced labor in a nursing home, and two years of ban on political activity, participation in parties, and groups. Ms. Tabatabaei is currently serving her sentence in Evin Prison.

Although there is no occasion called Cyrus Day in the official calendar of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the seventh day of Aban is unofficially dedicated to Cyrus, and every year some Iranians pay homage to the founder of the Achaemenid Empire by attending Pasargadae.

Every year, as November 27 approaches, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran try to prevent the Cyrus Day ceremony and the gathering of Iranian citizens in Pasargadae by closing the road leading to Pasargadae. However, in recent years, large crowds have gathered around the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae on that day, keeping the memory of the Achaemenid king alive.