HRANA – Mehdi Mahmoudian, a civil activist imprisoned in the Greater Tehran Prison, is facing a new legal case. He has been summoned to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran after receiving a notice to defend himself against new charges.

A recent summons, issued by Branch 5 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of District 31 (Media and Cyber Crimes) in Tehran, was delivered to Mr. Mahmoudian’s family. He has been asked to appear and respond to the charge of “spreading false information.”

Earlier this month, following Israel’s attack on Evin Prison, Mr. Mahmoudian was transferred to Greater Tehran Prison along with several other prisoners.

On February 3, 2025, he was arrested at the Enforcement Branch and sent to prison to serve his sentence.

Previously, Mahmoudian had been tried in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. He was sentenced to 8 months in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime,” along with two-year bans on party membership, smartphone use, and foreign travel.

Commenting on his sentence, Mahmoudian had written that “all of these punishments were imposed solely because I responded to a false report by a news outlet about the ‘eradication of bedbugs in prison,’ and wrote that they are ‘addicted to lying.’”

He had also previously faced prosecution for giving an interview about the difficulties Baha’is face in burying their deceased. In May of last year, he was arrested after appearing at the Prosecutor’s Office for Culture and Media and released a day later on bail.