Category: News

Teacher Union Activist Mohsen Omrani Sentenced to Imprisonment

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Freedom of Expression, Labor and Guilds, News
Bushehr, HRANA, Mohsen Omrani, محسن عمرانی

Mohsen Omrani, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bushehr Teachers’ Trade Association, has been sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Bushehr.

According to the ruling issued by the Revolutionary Court of Bushehr and recently communicated to Mr. Omrani, he has been sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.” Several posts on social media have been cited as evidence for the charges against him.

The court session for these charges was held on July 2 of this year. A previous court session for Omrani’s charges was held, but the case was sent back to the prosecutor’s office due to deficiencies.

A source close to Mr. Omrani told HRANA that he is facing another legal case. In October of last year, Omrani, along with three other members of the Board of Directors of the Bushehr Teachers’ Trade Association, was sentenced to two years of discretionary imprisonment, confiscation of seized assets in favor of the government, and a three-year ban on teaching activities in academic environments. This case has been sent to Branch 3 of the Bushehr Province Court of Appeals, with a hearing date set for August.

Additionally, Mr. Omrani, along with two other union activists, was sentenced by the Bushehr Province Criminal Court to a fine for “participating in teachers’ union protests.” Later, these citizens were acquitted of the charges by the province’s Court of Appeals.

Mohsen Omrani, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bushehr Teachers’ Trade Association, has a history of arrest and conviction due to his activities.

Soheil Habibi Arrested by Ministry of Intelligence

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News, Prisoners
HRANA, Salmas, Soheil Habibi, Soheil Habibi Kohneh Shahri

Soheil Habibi Kohneh Shahri, a resident of Salmas in West Azerbaijan province, was arrested on Friday, July 5, after being summoned to The Ministry of Intelligence’s office in the city.

Based on the information received by HRANA, Habibi, who had been previously summoned by phone to the Salmas Ministry of Intelligence, was arrested on Friday, July 5, after appearing at the aforementioned institution and was transferred to an unknown location.
A source close to the family confirmed the news to HRANA, stating: “Soheil was a member of one of the candidates’ campaign teams during the presidential election. It is likely that his summons and arrest were due to his comments regarding one of the candidates and the previous government.”

Habibi had also been previously arrested in November 2022 for his activities.

As of the time of this report, the charges and the whereabouts of this citizen remain unknown.

Two Union Activists’s Convictions Upheld on Appeal

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Freedom of Expression, Labor and Guilds, News
Hossein Ashrafi, Iraj Toubaeiha, Najafabad

The convictions of Iraj Toubaeiha (Najafabadi) and Hossein Ashrafi, two members of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Najafabad, were upheld by Branch 37 of the Isfahan Court of Appeal. In the initial court, Mr. Toubaeiha was sentenced to six years in prison, two years in exile, and a fine, while Mr. Ashrafi was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for four years.

Based on the ruling issued on June 29 by Branch 37 of the Isfahan Court of Appeal, and communicated to these union activists, Mr. Toubaeiha was sentenced to two years in prison for “insulting the Supreme Leader,” one year for “propaganda against the regime,” one year for “disrupting public order by participating in illegal gatherings,” and two years and a fine of fifteen million tomans for “spreading falsehoods.” Additionally, he was sentenced to two years in exile in a village in Nahbandan, South Khorasan province.
Mr. Ashrafi was sentenced to one year in prison for “disrupting public order by participating in illegal gatherings,” with the sentence suspended for four years.

The arrest warrant for these union activists was issued in January 2024 by the Second Branch of the Najafabad General Prosecutor’s Office.
Iraj Toubaeiha (Najafabadi), a member of the Najafabad Teachers’ Union, was detained for 35 days in the fall of 2022, for 5 days in the spring of 2023, and for 13 days in the fall of 2023. He had previously been arrested and faced judicial actions due to his activities.

Legal Scholar Mohsen Borhani Arrested to Start Serving His Sentence

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Freedom of Expression, News
Ahmad Borhani, Mohsen Borhani, University of Tehran

Mohsen Borhani, a legal scholar and professor at the University of Tehran, has been arrested and transferred to prison to serve his sentence.

Ahmad Borhani, the legal scholar’s brother, announced on social media: “After many ups and downs, despite remaining issues in the case, Dr. Mohsen Borhani was arrested.”

Additionally, Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency, wrote: “Mohsen Borhani, who was previously convicted in a judicial process and whose sentence had been finalized, was summoned and sent to prison to serve the court’s legal sentence.”

So far, no information has been obtained regarding the charges against Mr. Borhani or the duration of his prison sentence.

It is worth noting that last year, like several other critical professors at various universities across the country, Borhani was suspended from the faculty and banned from teaching. To read more about the expulsion and suspension of university professors due to their opinions, check out HRANA’s latest report.

A Report on the Current Status of Zeynab Jalalian in Yazd Prison in the Seventeenth Year of Imprisonment

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News, Prisoners
moharebeh, Yazd Prison, Zeinab Jalalian, Zeynab Jalalian, زینب جلالیان

Zeynab Jalalian, a political prisoner, is serving her seventeenth year of a life sentence in Yazd Prison. Despite numerous physical ailments, she has been denied proper medical care and hospital transfer.

In violation of prison rules that dictate housing prisoners according to the nature of their offenses, she has been held in the same ward as those convicted of violent crimes.

Ms. Jalalian suffers from pterygium (an eye disease) as well as kidney and gastrointestinal diseases. Recently, due to pain in her right side, she was transferred to the prison infirmary. She was examined by the prison doctor, but no specialized treatment was provided. This political prisoner requires hospitalization and specialized care, yet the relevant authorities continue to prevent her transfer.

Zeynab Jalalian was arrested in 2008 and in 2009 was sentenced to death for “moharebeh” (enmity against God) due to her membership in opposition groups. Additionally, she received one year in prison for illegal exit from the country. Her death sentence was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court but was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Ms. Jalalian has reported being subjected to various forms of torture during her detention, including flogging on the soles of her feet, punches to the stomach, head banging against the wall, and threats of sexual assault.

Her physical condition and deprivation of appropriate treatment have raised serious concerns about her health. This situation not only highlights the human rights violations against her but also reveals the alarming conditions of political prisoners in Iran.

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A Prisoner Executed in Sari Prison

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Executions, News
Habib Shojaei, Mazandaran, Sari Prison

On Sunday, June 30, 2024, an inmate convicted of murder was executed in Sari Prison, Mazandaran Province, as reported by Iran Human Rights Organization.

The identity of this prisoner has been reported as “Habib Shojaei, approximately forty years old.”
The report states: This prisoner was arrested about three years ago on charges of murder and was sentenced to death by the judiciary.

No official sources or domestic media outlets within the country have provided coverage of these executions at the time of writing. In 2023, 66% of HRANA’s reports on executions lacked official announcements by judicial authorities and went unreported by media inside Iran, highlighting a troubling lack of transparency in due process.

In 2023, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered the execution of 767 individuals. Out of these, 7 were carried out in public. Among the executed individuals whose genders were identified, 21 were female. Additionally, 2 juvenile offenders, defined as individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, were also executed.

Seyed Mohammad Taghavi Detained for Over Four Months Facing Political Charges

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News, Prisoners
Evin Prison, Iman Afshari, Maku Prison, Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, سید محمد تقوی

Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, who is accused of Baghi (armed rebellion), remains in legal limbo in Evin Prison more than four months after his arrest. Since Monday, July 1st, this political detainee has been moved to solitary confinement in the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility, known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison, as a punitive measure ordered by Judge Iman Afshari.

A source close to his family confirmed this news to HRANA, stating: “Mr. Taghavi had previously protested against the fabricated charges against him and did not attend the court session due to the lack of a lawyer. On Monday, July 1st, he was punitively transferred to one of the solitary cells in Ward 209 of Evin Prison by the order of Judge Iman Afshari, the head of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran.”

On February 23, 2024, security forces arrested Taghavi in Chaldoran in West Azerbaijan Province and transferred him to Maku Prison. He was then moved to Evin Prison after seven days.

Finally, on May 14th of this year, Mr. Taghavi, along with five other political detainees, was charged in a joint case by Branch 5 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Tehran, presided over by Investigator Alizadeh, on suspicion of membership in one of the opposition groups and accused of Baghi.

On Monday, June 24th of this year, Taghavi and other defendants in this case were summoned to Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. However, he was not sent to court by the order of the head of Evin Prison due to his refusal to wear prison clothes at the court.

Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, 57, is a former political prisoner from the 1980s, holding a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Tehran University, and has a history of previous convictions and imprisonment.

Reports from the Department of Statistics and Publication of HRA in 2023 indicate a total of 193 cases in which Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, has been involved in issuing verdicts that infringe upon the human rights of defendants.

Workers’ Rights Activist Sharifeh Mohammadi Sentenced to Death for Armed Rebellion (Baghi)

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Executions, Freedom of Expression, News
Baghi, HRANA, Komala, Rasht, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Sirus Fathi, سیروس فتحی, شریفه محمدی

Sharifeh Mohammadi, a workers’ rights advocate, imprisoned in Lakan Prison in Rasht, has been sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht on charges of “Baghi” (armed rebellion).

This verdict, issued by Judge Ahmad Darvish Goftar of Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, was communicated to her husband, Sirus Fathi, today, Thursday, July 4th. Ms. Mohammadi was sentenced to death on charges of “Baghi” due to her alleged membership in an opposition group.
The court session addressing Sharifeh Mohammadi’s charges was held on June 8th, covering accusations of propaganda against the regime, acting against national security, and “Baghi” through membership in an opposition group.

The Ministry of Intelligence apprehended Mohammadi at her Rasht residence on December 5, 2023. Subsequently, she was transferred from Lakan Prison to Sanandaj Prison on December 30, 2023, only to be returned to Lakan Prison later on.

A source close to the labor activist’s family previously told HRANA, “Sharifeh was a member of the Association of Labor Organizations until 2013, which has no connection to the Komala group that she is accused of being a member of, leading to the charge of ‘Baghi’.”

Ra’na Korkori Arrested by Security Forces

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News
Abbas Korkori, Abbas Kurkuri, Mojahid Korkori, Ra'na Korkori

Ra’na Korkori (Kurkuri), the sister of Abbas (Mojahid) Korkori, a detainee of the nationwide protests sentenced to death, was arrested by security forces in Tehran today, July 4th, and transferred to an unknown location.

Negar Korkori, Ra’na’s sister, wrote in announcing this news: “This morning, my sister was arrested by security forces at her residence in Tehran and transferred to an unknown location.”

So far, the reasons for the arrest and the charges against Ms. Korkori are unknown.

Abbas (Mojahid) Korkori, one of the detainees of the 2022 nationwide protests, is imprisoned in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz. The Supreme Court has confirmed his death sentence.

Three Inmates Executed in Tabriz Prison

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Executions, News
Bahram Moharrami, Reza Ahmadzadeh, Tabriz, Tabriz Prison

On July 2, the execution of three prisoners, previously sentenced to death on separate murder charges, was carried out in Tabriz Prison, as reported by Iran Human Rights Organization.

The identities of two of these prisoners, Reza Ahmadzadeh, 47, and Bahram Moharrami, 36, both from Tabriz, have been reported.
According to this report, Ahmadzadeh was arrested three years ago on murder charges and sentenced to death. Similarly, Moharrami was arrested two years ago on charges of murdering his wife and sentenced to death.

The report also mentioned that Rokna News Agency had reported the execution of a prisoner named Mansour in Tabriz Prison the previous day for the murder of his mother-in-law, which appears to refer to the third executed individual.

In 2023, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered the execution of 767 individuals. Out of these, 7 were carried out in public. Among the executed individuals whose genders were identified, 21 were female. Additionally, 2 juvenile offenders, defined as individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, were also executed.