Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals in Tehran upheld the verdict of student activist and former political prisoner, Leila Hosseinzadeh. Hosseinzadeh was sentenced to five years in prison and a two year ban on online social activity by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran due to her attendance at the birthday ceremony of imprisoned Gonabadi Dervish, Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam, held at the entrance of the Sharif University of Technology.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hosseinzadeh’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, was notified about the court;’s decision to uphold the initial verdict.
In February 2021, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran convicted her on the charge of “assembly and collusion for the purpose of acting against national security”.
Amid the nationwide protests which broke out in December 2017, Hosseinzadeh was arrested alongside other student activists and released on bail after spending 16 days in detention. On March 7, 2018, she was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”, as well as one year in prison and a two year ban on leaving the country on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. The sentence for her first charge was reduced on appeal from five years to two years and six months. Grounded on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, 30 months of this sentence was enforceable.
On July 28, 2019, she was arrested and detained for 10 days in a facility at the IRGC’s intelligence unit. Afterwards, she was sent to Evin prison to serve her sentence.
On March 11, 2020, while on furlough, she was set free due to her “intolerance of punishment”.