Mir-Yousef Younsei Arrested in Shahrud

On December 28, 2022, security forces arrested Mir-Yousef Younesi, father of imprisoned student Ali Younesi, in Shahrud, Semnan Province.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on December 28, 2022,  Mir-Yousef Younesi was arrested in Shahrud.

Breaking this news on social media, his son Reza Younsei wrote: “Today, without showing any arrest warrant, six plainclothes agents arrested Mir-Yousef Younesi, Ali Younesi’s father, at my grandfather’s home in Shahrud.”

The reason for Younsei’s arrest and the charges are unknown.

Ali Younesi, a student of the Sharif University of Technology, is currently serving his sentence in Evin Prison. He is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. Ali Younesi has also won a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in China.

Students Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi Sentenced Each to Sixteen Years in Prison

The Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced two detained Iranian students Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi to a total of 32 years in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi, two students of the Sharif University of Technology, were each sentenced to 16 years in prison.

According to the verdict issued by Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, the two individuals have been charged with ” spreading corruption on earth, assembly and collusion against the regime, and propaganda against the regime.”
Earlier, lawyer Mostafa Nili informed the public about holding the last court session for Younesi and Moradi on April 17, 2022.

On April 10, 2020, the security forces arrested the two students violently and without presenting an arrest warrant, sending them to Ward 209 of Evin prison.

On May 5, 2020, the Spokesman of the judiciary accused Younesi and Moradi of collaboration with The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (the Mujahedin-e-Khalq or MEK)”. However, in a video record circulating on social media, Ayda Younesi, Ali Younesi’s sister, denied such an accusation. In September of 2020, she revealed that his brother had been under pressure to make a TV confession. In November of that year, Ali Younsei contracted Covid-19 in prison.
 
Amir Hossein Moradi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017. Ali Younesi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. Ali Younesi has also won a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in China.

Nobel Laureates and Prominent Academics Demand Immediate Release of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi

In a joint letter, a group of Nobel laureates and prominent academics urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to ask that the Iranian regime release two detained Iranian students, Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on the 18 January, in a joint letter, 16 Nobel laureates and prominent scholars called for the immediate release of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi.

Earlier, on May 15, 2020, in an open letter, several Nobel laureates asked UN high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet to put efforts to ensure the immediate release of the two students.

Professor Noam Chomsky (linguist and philosopher), Randy Wayne Schekman ( Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2013), Barry Barish (Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2017) and Richard John Roberts (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993) are among the writers of this letter.

On April 10, 2020, these two Sharif University of Technology students were violently arrested. Since the arrest, they have been subjected to torture-tainted interrogations to make forced confessions on television.

Amir Hossein Moradi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017. Ali Younesi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. Ali Younesi also won a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in China.

450 Days After Their Arrest, Court Holds Trial for Elite Students Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi

On Saturday, July 3, the trial of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi was held at Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the two Sharif University of Technology students have been detained by the Ministry of Intelligence since April of last year.

The students are being charged with “Corruption on earth”. Mr. Nili, the detainees’ lawyer, had previously stated that after more than 14 months, the defendants are still being held in Security Ward 209 of Evin Prison, and not transferring them to the public ward has made the defense process difficult. At the request of the case officer, the defendants have so far been denied transfer to a public prison.

Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, a physics student at the Sharif University of Technology, were arrested in April 2020 by the Ministry of Intelligence agents. The students are said to have been violently detained by plainclothes officers without a court order.

Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, accused these students of collaborating with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in May 2020.
Ali Younesi’s sister, Aida Younesi, later denied the allegations against her brother in a video posted on the Internet. In September 2020, Aida Younesi announced that she was under pressure to confess against her brother on TV.

Amir Hossein Moradi was the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017. Ali Younesi was the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. Ali Younesi also won a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in China.