Kurdish writer and researcher sentenced to 69 months in prison in a trial without a defense lawyer
In recent days, Mojgan Kavsi, a Kurdish writer and researcher from Kelardasht, was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison by the Nowshahr Court of First Instance.
The Kurdish writer and researcher announced on her Instagram page that her trial was held without a lawyer. Ms. Kawsi wrote that she was sentenced by the Nowshahr First Instance Court to two years and nine months in prison for the charge of "membership in groups hostile to the regime," two years and six months in prison for the charge of "inciting people to disrupt public order," and six months in prison for the charge of "propaganda against the regime."
This sentence was issued to Ms. Kawsi at a time when, if confirmed and based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, which stipulates the consolidating of sentences, only two years and nine months of this sentence will be enforceable.
According to available information, Mojgan Kavsi was arrested by security forces on Monday, November 17, and after 22 days of detention in the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center in Sari, she was transferred to the women's ward of Nowshahr Prison. Finally, on December 18, she was temporarily released from prison on bail until the end of the trial.
This is not the first time that a writer and researcher has been sentenced to prison. Previously, Voice of America reported that Amin Masuri, a writer and researcher from Khorramabad, who had previously been sentenced to two years in prison by Branch 2 of the Khorramabad Revolutionary Court on charges such as "propaganda against the system" and "insulting the leadership," was transferred to the city's central prison on Wednesday, November 2, to serve his sentence after the appeals court confirmed the verdict.
In a report last month, Amnesty International called 2018 the Islamic Republic's "year of shame" and announced that more than seven thousand people, including participants in demonstrations, students, journalists, women's rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and ethnic and religious minority rights activists, have been arrested in Iran this year.
The US State Department has also repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic regime's violent actions against the Iranian people under various pretexts, including attacks on the freedom to choose the type of clothing, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by agents of the regime.
Source: Voice of America
