HRANA – Yesterday, July 16, Sasan Chaman-Ara, a resident of Ilam, was arrested by security forces in the city and taken to an undisclosed location.
Maryam Kian Ersi, Mr. Chaman-Ara’s lawyer, announced in a statement that her client was arrested yesterday in Ilam and transferred to an unknown location.
On Monday, July 14, Mr. Chaman-Ara had received a summons to appear before Branch 4 of the Ilam Prosecutor’s Office for a defense regarding the charge of “unauthorized access to data, computer systems, or telecommunications systems.” His arrest took place despite the fact that the five-day deadline for him to appear before the judicial authority had not yet expired.
Sasan Chaman-Ara, a 36-year-old resident of Ilam, has previously been arrested and convicted.
Ilam’s Revolutionary Court has issued a verdict sentencing Sasan Chaman-Ara to three months in prison, inclusive of the detention period, and a fine on political charges.
The court’s decision, notified to Chaman-Ara on March 9, states that Chaman-Ara is found guilty of “propaganda against the regime in favor of anti-regime groups and media.”
Chaman-Ara was takeninto custody by security forces on January 17, 2024, and subsequently held in the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Ilam for seven days. He was released temporarily on bond after the initial detention period.
Aged 34 and a resident of Ilam, Chaman-Ara has a history of prior arrests and convictions related to his activism.
On January 17, 2024, security forces arrested Sasan Chaman-Ara in Ilam, transporting him to the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in the city. Concurrently, his father’s and sister’s residences were subjected to searches by the agents.
Confirming the arrest, a source close to Chaman-Ara’s family informed HRANA that three agents from the Ministry of Intelligence detained him on a street in Ilam. Subsequently, they conducted comprehensive searches at his family members’ homes, seizing some belongings. Eventually, he was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence’s office.
“Since then, Chaman-Ara has been denied the opportunity to make a phone call to his family,” the source added.
Chaman-Ara’s initial arrest by security forces occurred in September-October 2022, and he was released on bail from Great Tehran Penitentiary in January 2023.
Following this, the Tehran Revolutionary Court issued a five-year prison sentence for “assembly and collusion against national security and propaganda against the regime,” a verdict upheld on appeal.
HRANA – Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old young woman, was arrested by the morality police for the crime of improper hijab. Her arrest and death in detention fueled nationwide protests in Iran. Protesters came to the streets with the central slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in protest against the performance, laws, and structure of the regime. The following 486-page report is dedicated to the statistical review, analysis, and summary of the first eighty-two days of the ongoing protests (September 17 to December 7, 2022). In this report, in addition to the geographic analysis and the presentation of maps and charts, the identity of 481 deceased, including 68 children and teenagers, an estimated of 18,242 arrested along with the identity of 3,670 arrested citizens, 605 students and 61 journalists or activists in the field of information is compiled. In addition, the report includes a complete collection of 1988 verified video reports by date and topic. The report examines protests across 1115 documented gatherings in all 31 provinces of the country, including 160 cities and 143 universities.
Summary
Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a young 22-year-old woman from Saqqez, Kurdistan was visiting Tehran, when she was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, by the Morality Police officers at the Haqqani metro station in Tehran. The reason for her arrest: not properly observing the strict Islamic dress code. Mahsa/Zhina was taken to the infamous detention center of Moral Security Police known as Vozara.
Shortly after Mahsa’s arrest, she went into a coma with level three concussion, and her partially alive body was transferred to the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital. Given the track record of the police and Guidance Patrols in mistreating the arrestees and similar previous incidents, with the believe that Mahsa was beaten during the arrest people were outraged.
Download full report in PDF format
Unpersuasive explanations given by the Central Command of the Islamic Republic Police Force (FARAJA) in defense of its actions regarding the death of Mahsa, the past performance of the police force, along with widespread dissatisfaction with the existence of a body called the Moral Security Police, fueled widespread protests in Iran.
The widespread protests sparked at the time Mahsa Amini was announced dead in front of Kasra Hospital on Argentina Street in Tehran, and then quickly spread to the streets despite the intimidating presence of Iran’s security forces. The protests intensified after Mahsa’s burial in a Saqqez cemetery. To the extent that after eighty-two days of nationwide protests between September 17, 2022, to December 7, 2022, they have spread to Iran’s all 31 provinces, 160 cities, and 143 major universities.
The protests did not stay limited to Mahsa’s death, it rather, quickly targeted the Iranian government’s political and ideological foundations. These protests were violently quashed by the anti-riot police and Iran’s militia force (Basij). teargas, pellets, and live ammunition were used in the repression of protestors. This widespread crackdown has led to the death of dozens of people and the wounding of hundreds of protestors.
Despite sever communication restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic, this report attempts to give a clearer picture of the first 82 days of the protests between September 17, to December 7, 2022. It’s worth mentioning at the time of this report the protests are still ongoing in various forms.
