HRANA – The prison sentence of Motahareh Goonehi, a student activist, has been upheld by the Tehran Province Court of Appeal. She had previously been sentenced by Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to 21 months in prison.

She wrote about this ruling: “Student Day’s gift: my sentence in the Court of Appeal was upheld with the explanation of ‘the manner of committing the offense, its harmful consequences, criminal record, and the impact of punishment on the defendant.’”

This student activist was previously sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to 15 months in prison for the charge of ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’, and six months in prison for the charge of ‘insulting the Supreme Leader,’ as well as the confiscation of her mobile phone.

Ms. Goonehi was arrested by security forces in Tehran on June 14, 2025, and was released on bail after more than a month. After her release, she published an account of her detention, reporting arrest without a judicial warrant, gunfire being shot inside the enclosed space of her home during the arrest, and her late-night transfer, blindfolded and without shoes, onto the street for release.

Motahareh Goonehi is a dentistry student and the former political secretary of the Islamic Association of Students at the University of Tehran and Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She has previously faced arrest and other security pressures due to her activism. She was released from Evin Prison on March 16, 2025, after completing her prison sentence.