According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Baha’i citizens Vahid Dana and Saeed Abedi have been temporarily released on bail from Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.
Per the report, the two citizens were arrested by IRGC intelligence agents on April 28 and had been in detention up until yesterday’s release.
Khabat Mafakheri, a citizen of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province, was recently sentenced to 4 years suspended imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists (HRA), quoting Kurdpa, Mafakheri was arrested in early August 2020 and released on bail in mid-December of that year. According to the report, Mafakheri was notified of the verdict in the past few days and was charged with collaborating with one of the opposition parties.
Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Baha’i citizens Mona Mehrabi, Elham Karampisheh, Afsaneh Yadegar Ardestani, and Ehsanullah Yadegar Ardestani. The four citizens were previously sentenced by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran to 3 years in prison each.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 16 of the Court of Appeals of Khuzestan Province upheld the conviction of a labor activist Maziar Seyednejad. Seyednejad had previously been sentenced to three years in prison on charges related to his membership in an opposition group.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Aftab News, the case of a citizen who was sentenced to 99 lashes and two years of exile in an area with a brutal climate for having an extramarital affair has been referred to a court of equal rank in Tehran.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly prohibits the use of degrading and inhumane punishment such as flogging.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Baloch Activists Campaign, on May 29, Sunni cleric Abdul Samad Ijbari, the director of the Quran Education School in Hassanabad village of Zabul province, was summoned to the Zabul city intelligence office in Sistan and Baluchestan province and was interrogated.
The report states that the Sunni cleric was summoned following the presence of Mohammad Othman Qalandarzahi at the Hassanabad Mosque. The reason for the summons and the accusations against Ijbari are not yet known.
Hosseini, who is serving a seven-year sentence, was beaten, insulted, and humiliated by prison officials for refusing to wear prison uniforms, handcuffs, and shackles last November.
In May of 2019, Reza Mohammad Hosseini was sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran to 16 and a half years in prison on charges of conspiracy, insulting the leadership, illegally leaving the country, illegally entering the country, and disobeying the orders of agents.
The verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Ahmad Zargar in May 2020.
Based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment will be imposed on him on charges of conspiracy and collusion.
On May 29, retired teacher, union activist and member of the Iranian Women’s Voice Association Mahboubeh Farahzadi was arrested.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists (HRA), quoting The Free Union of Iranian Workers, Farahzadi was released on bail later after the charges were explained to her by Branch 7 of Evin Court.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on May 29, Shadegan resident Karim Sameri was arrested by security forces after he filmed a funeral and poetry night held for the child of a famous local poet.
On May 28, Arsalan Kamalzehi, son of Kamhan, was arrested by security forces in the city of Mehrestan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Baloch Activists Campaign, the report states that Kamalzehi was arrested for inviting people to boycott the presidential election. As of this writing, no information is available on the charges against him or where he is being held.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Soran Sharifian, a resident of Buchan County working in one of the county clinics was arrested by security forces and taken to an unknown location on May 24.
An informed source said that the citizen was arrested without a court order and that the security forces confiscated some of his personal belongings, including his mobile phone, computer, and books. Despite the pursuit of Mr. Sharifian’s family, the location of the detention and the charges against him are unknown.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) , 13 citizens were recently arrested in Astara and Ardabil following protests and clashes between residents. The report did not specify the identities or whereabouts of the detainees.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting RASANKNEWS, Mohammad Nahtani, Mohammad Naroui, Rahim Safarzehi, Ahmad Gergij, son of Aziz, and Younes Gergij, son of Nawab Khan, were arrested by security forces in the village of Shahrabad, Mashhad.
These citizens were beaten and violated at the time of arrest and their homes were searched without court order. According to local sources, a few other citizens whose identities are still unknown were detained in the village as well. As of this writing, their whereabouts and the reasons for their detention are unknown.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, the chief officer of the Iranian Cyber Police of Qom announced the recognition and arrest of an Instagram page admin for what he called the “publication of unusual images”. The admin was handed over to judicial authorities after the investigation was completed.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mr. Yousef Pirastvan and Ms. Pirastvan (first name unknown) were a married couple at the time of their arrest.
An informed source said that Mr. and Ms. Pirastvan were arrested 7-8 years ago on the Qazvin-Karaj highway on charges of carrying 380 kilograms of drugs and were sentenced to death in their first court session.
According to international organizations, Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per-capita. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) reported that between January 1st and December 20th of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed. One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death.
More than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary. Human rights organizations call these “secret executions.”
At the time of writing, their execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna news, death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court for two defendants who were sentenced under the Qisas (loosely translated as eye-for-an-eye) principle of Shariah Law.
The sentence was issued after 37-year-old Meysam, a shopkeeper, was stabbed to death in Varamin in Tehran.
In a separate incident, according to the Javanonline News, a defendant was sentenced to death for murder under the Qisas principle by the criminal court in Tehran province.
The victim’s wife and two murder suspects, all suspected of orchestrating the killing, were also sentenced to prison time.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Berier’s lawyer Saeed Dehghan wrote in a note on his social media that Benjamin Berier has been found guilty on charges of spying and spreading propaganda against the system. His other two charges of drinking and spreading depravity were dropped.
According to Dehghan, photographing forbidden areas, and asking the question “Why is the hijab mandatory in the Islamic Republic but optional in other Islamic countries?” are the reasons for the accusation of spying and propaganda against the regime.
Berier’s lawyer previously told HRANA, “Despite the ambiguities and contradictions in his charges against Mr. Berier, his case has not been allowed access to a lawyer thus far, which is a catastrophe.”
Mr. Dehghan also told HRANA that translational errors from a particular French publication have exacerbated the suspicion among officials.
“In a news story published by the French newspaper Figaro, Berier’s use of the common word “drone” has been misinterpreted as a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)–Mr. Berier is a tourist who used a ‘helicam’ for photography,” Dehghan said. “The use of this word by the newspaper Figaro has caused this misconception by some media. Figaro also reported Mr. Berier is a French Iranian citizen while he actually is a French citizen.”
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Golpayegani specifically commented on the lack of communication and regulation from the Ministry.
“In April 2020, the Ministry of Health and the EB House negotiated with the German government and with the support of Germany and UNICEF, 5.8 tons of wound dressings was delivered to the Ministry of Health to be given to us periodically, but unfortunately there has not been a regulation in timing,” Golpayegani said. “We did not receive any wound dressing last October and November and the Ministry never told us how many wound dressings were received from Germany.”
EB Home Foundation is a charity foundation that assists patients with specific skin problems.
“An expert at the General Directorate of Medical Equipment said all 5.8 tons of dressings have been received,” Golpayegani added, “But they also need dressings for burns and diabetic wounds.”
Stating that the middle class has shrunk over the past few years and the lower class has expanded, Gholam-Hossein Shafei said: “Despite the announced statistics, economic growth has been almost zero over the past 10 years and therefore, we have always faced high inflation.”
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Shafei stated that inflation has always beaten the wage increases, but this is “the first time that depreciation rate has risen above the investment rate”.
“Before the government announces inflation, unemployment, and other statistics, people and businesses have experienced it in their lives,” he added.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna News, the student had gone to the mountains to access the internet and use virtual learning networks.
Talebi, the director of Zirkuh education confirmed the incident happened and said the injured is a student of Hajiabad vocational school in Zirkuh.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, virtual learning has played a critical role in Iran’s education system, but access to the necessary materials remains limited. Students in many villages of Iran are forced to face the environmental hazards in the highlands to access the internet due to the poor network coverage in their area.
The head of the country’s Exceptional Education Organization stated that 30% of students do not have equipment for e-learning; he said: “5 million students in the country do not have access to smartphones and tablets.”
Javad Hosseini also expressed that 8% of students use their parent’s devices for e-learning which does not provide the students with stable access to learning equipment.
