According to the HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, last June, Farhad Mohammadi was sentenced to four years in prison by the First Branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Saeedi.
Mohammadi’s sentence was reduced to 10 months imprisonment by the Fourth Branch of the Kurdistan Court of Appeals.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Human Rights (IHR), 40-year-old Mirkhani, son of Rasoul, was previously sentenced to death on drug-related charges.
Per the report, an informed source said, “Shahin Mirkhani was sentenced to death for carrying 420 kilograms of crystal meth stimulant, and on Sunday was executed in the backyard of Shirvan Prison.”
Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per-capita, according to international organizations. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) 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.
According to the report, 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, Mirkhani’s execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting VOA, Sharmahd’s daughter Ghazaleh stated that the Islamic regime has not allowed the lawyer selected by the family to access the case.
Per Ghazeleh’s account, case prosecutor Shah Mohammadi introduced a lawyer to her father and informed him that “only this lawyer can access the case”. Ghazaleh added, “Someone who introduced himself as ‘Dordi Zadeh, the lawyer’” has contacted the family and claimed that he will represent Mr. Sharmahd for 250 thousand dollars.
Ghazaleh Sharmahd emphasized that they cannot afford this amount. “We do not think this Dordi Zadeh will cooperate effectively,” the daughter said. “We wanted the authorities to allow my father’s independent lawyer to access the case. Neither the consulate nor the lawyer–no one can access my father.”
In August 2020, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announced Sharmahd’s arrest. In 2006, Sharmahd claimed to be the leader of one of the Royal Association’s branches after Frood Fooladvand, founder of the Royal Association, disappeared in Turkey.
Sharmahd’s whereabouts and fate are unknown at the time of this writing.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Asr-e-Junub News, the protest was over the workers’ not having received their job benefits.
The mayor of District 3 of Ahvaz expressed he was not informed about the detention of these workers, adding that “The municipality deals with a third-party contractor, not the workers, and the contractor has been paid”.
As of this writing, two of the nine workers, Davoodi and Mansouri, are still in custody.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Allah Veisi was arrested in the Sanandaj bazaar in Kurdistan Province on May 8 and then taken to an unknown location.
“So far, Allah Veisi’s family has been unsuccessful in finding information about the detainee’s condition,” an informed source said, per the report. “Mr. Allah Veisi has been deprived of having a lawyer and family visits during his detention.”
As of this writing, the reasons for the arrest and the charges against Allah Veisi are unknown.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, prison officials significantly delayed sending Mr. Niknafs to a properly-equipped hospital outside the prison, despite the clear urgency of his condition.
Niknafs has long suffered from diseases such as diabetes, fatty liver, gastritis, high blood pressure, and psychological problems.
The political prisoner was finally transferred to the prison’s health center two days ago where he reportedly died.
Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced Niknafs to eight years in prison on charges of conspiracy against the country’s security, propaganda against the regime, and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic and the leadership. 5 years of imprisonment applied to him after applying article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.
36-year-old Niknafs, father of two girls aged 8 and 9, endured eleven months of incarceration in poor physical and psychological condition. According to his lawyer, during a recent meeting, the effects of self-harm were visible on his hands.
Prison authorities have not officially announced the news of his death at the time of this writing despite repeated inquiries from his family and lawyer.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting The Free Union of Iranian Workers, Ghorbani is from Kamyaran in Kurdistan Province.
Ghorbani is a construction worker and a member of the Free Trade Union of Iran.
According to the report, the labor activist was sentenced on charges of “membership in a group or population or a branch of a population formed within the country to disrupt the security of the country” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 3 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office held the hearing and charged Arabi with “propaganda activities against the regime and disturbing the public opinion”.
Mr. Arabi was accused of creating reports on the poor condition of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, criticizing the conduct of prison authorities, especially the prison’s assistant prosecutor, going on a hunger strike to support political prisoners deprived of medical treatment, and writing statements in support of the nationwide protests of November 2019.
Arabi was punitively transferred from the Greater Tehran Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj last September. He was then summoned and acquitted by Branch 8 of the Shahr-e-Shahri Prosecutor’s Office for another lawsuit in December.
Soheil Arabi has been imprisoned since November 2013 and has been deprived of leaves of absence throughout his entire imprisonment.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the transfer was made in violation of the principle of separation of prisoners based on crime.
Turkmani has been serving a five-year sentence in the Greater Tehran Prison since February of this year.
In 2019, the political prisoner was sentenced by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Salavati, to seven years and six months in prison on charges of insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, insulting the leadership, propaganda against the regime, and blasphemy.
The applicable sentence was reduced to five years in prison by the court of appeals.
The principle of separating prisoners accused of violent crimes is not without precedent; Hossein Hashemi, another political prisoner who was punitively transferred to section 4, was violently beaten by cellmates on June 2.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Nasser Karimi was the son of Qader and a resident of Nowbar village in Buchan County of West Azerbaijan Province.
He was arrested on May 1 by the police of Criminal Investigation on financial charges.
The report quoted an informed source saying that “Mr. Karimi was in critical condition after being transferred to Buchan Prison, but prison officials refused to send him to a health center or hospital outside the prison.”
The source added, “Buchanan prison officials said the cause of death was cardiac arrest and that the body was transferred to Urmia forensic medicine for autopsy.”
Karimi’s body has not been delivered to his family yet.
