Tag: IRGC detention facility

Student Majid Shia Ali Sentenced to Two Years and Six Months

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Freedom of Expression, News
IRGC detention facility, Majid Shia Ali, Mashhad, Vakilaad Prison

Majid Shia Ali, a PhD student at the Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, with one year and six months being enforceable, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.

The Court of Appeals of Razavi Khorasan Province handed down the verdict, sentencing Shia Ali to one year and six months for ‘membership in groups inside the country to act against national security,’ six months for ‘propaganda against the regime,’ and six months for ‘insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.’ The Mashhad Revolutionary Court had initially sentenced Shia Ali to six years and six months for these same charges.

According to reports obtained by HRANA, Shia Ali faced this legal case for publishing a post online about the 2022 nationwide protests.

In November 2022, Shia Ali was arrested and spent 56 in detention, including 40 days in solitary confinement in an IRGC detention facility. He was later released on bail from Vakilaad Prison in early February 2023.

­­Ali Ensandoost still in Detention after One Month

Posted on by A MN
News, Prisoners
Ali Ensandoost, IRGC detention facility, Langarud Prison

Former political prisoner Ali Ensandoost is still detained for over a month as he awaits due process. He was recently relocated to the quarantine section.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ali Ensandoost is still in detention awaiting due process in Langerood Prison in Qom.

On August 13, 2022, security forces arrested Ensandoost at his house. Last week, he was transferred from an IRGC detention facility to Langarud Prison in Qom. According to an informed source, recently, he has been relocated to the quarantine section.

The reason for his arrest and the charges are unknown so far.

Ensandoost had faced arrest and conviction before. On April 28, 2020, security forces arrested him in Rasht for his activities on social media and an interview with opposition media outside the country. He was interrogated in a detention facility until September 2020 when he was transferred to Langerud Prison and held in a ward with prisoners of violent crimes.

The Revolutionary Court of Qom sentenced Ensandoost to eight years in prison on the charges of “collaboration with hostile countries, insulting the Supreme Leader, and propaganda against the regime”. After plea bargaining, the sentence was reduced to four years and six months. On December 26, 2021, Ensandoost was released to serve the rest of his sentence in home detention with an electronic monitoring device.

IRGC Detained Artist Sepideh Rashno 

Posted on by A MN
News, Women
hejab, IRGC detention facility, Khorramabad, Sepideh Rashno

Artist and student Sepideh Rashno is still held at an IRGC detention facility known as Ward A-1. On July 16, security forces arrested Rashno after a quarrel on a city bus with a woman who harassed and assaulted her for what she deemed as improper hejab. Such incidents are on the rise in public places as the government has tightened the hejab enforcement. 

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Artist and student activist Sepideh Rashno is held at an IRGC detention facility awaiting further legal proceedings.

So far, she has been denied access to a lawyer and phone calls in prison.

The charges against Rashno are unknown so far.

Last week, a video circulated on social media showing a woman harassing another and blaming her for an improper hejab. After publishing the video, security forces arrested  Rashno, who is an artist and a resident of Khorramabad.

The Iranian regime encourages citizens to get involved in the enforcement of the Islamic code in public as a religious duty, which demonstrates how significant compliance with these rules is for the government.