Iran Protests: Neda Faragari Jailed in Amol Prison

Neda Faragari, arrested at recent nationwide protests, is currently jailed in Amol Prison, Mazandaran Province. The Amol Revolutionary Court has sentenced her to two years in prison and paying a fine.

December 22, 2022, she was sentenced to two years in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security,” paying a fine for “propaganda against the regime,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.”

On trial, chanting slogans such as “death to the dictator” at a commemoration ceremony on the 40th day of Ghazaleh Chalabi, one of the protestors killed by the regime forces at protests, was presented as an example of the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader.” Faragari was arrested at the commemoration ceremony for Ghazaleh Chalabi on November 3, 2022, in Amol.

According to reports obtained by HRANA, her attendance and others at this ceremony were interpreted by the court as an act to conspire against national security (mentioned as ‘chain collusion’), pre-coordinated based on a “shared goal rather than by a leader.”

 

Nationwide Protests in Iran Continues on Day Nine

On September 25, the nationwide protests continued nine days after the death of Mahsa Amini. Demonstrations continued in at least 19 cities and universities, as the number of arrests and the individuals injured or killed increased. There were disruptions and outages in internet and phone services and social media was filtered. 

On September 24,25, 2022, despite the heavy presence of riot police and plainclothes security agents, people held demonstrations in many cities, including Shahin-Shahr, Karaj, Shiraz, Amol, Babol, Sanandaj, Tehran, Fardis, Isfahan, Tabriz, Zahedan, Fuman, Sabzevar, Qaen, Shahr-e-Rey, and Nowshahr. 

The Sharif University of Technology and the University of Tehran students held protests on campus, chanting slogans  such as “Death to the dictator”, “Jailed student should be freed”, and “We will fight, we will die, but we will take back Iran.”

The two maps below show the geographical distribution and concentrations of the protests until the seventh day of protests. 

On September 25, the Coordination Council of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association issued a statement asking teachers and students all over Iran to join the general strike.

 It is estimated that many individuals have been arrested, as 450 arrests were reported only in the city of Sari. However, HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, is still working on fact-checking and reviewing the reports independently. HRANA has identified and verified 48 individuals arrested so far.

There were also reports of several individuals killed as a result of the brutality of the security apparatus. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported 41 deaths, of which HRANA has identified 38.

The map below shows the distribution of the death toll as of the seventh day of protests.

Below is a compilation of the videos gathered on the eighth and ninth days of protests in Iran.

Akram Rahimi Dies of Coronary Heart Disease in Amol Prison after being Unable to Pay Required Cash Bail

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, an inmate in the women’s ward of Amol Prison died on the evening of Saturday, August 14 of coronary heart disease.

The prisoner, who has been identified by HRANA as 40-year-old Akram Rahimi, suffered from severe heart and lung disease, but was being kept in detention due to her inability to pay the required cash bail.

“Ms. Rahimi contracted Corona some time ago along with several other prisoners,” an informed source told HRANA. “After her condition worsened, she was regularly sent to the hospital, but due to lack of space, she was not accepted and received the same basic treatment services, ie serum injection in the hospital garden, and was transferred to prison again until she died two nights ago.