Civil Rights Activist Mohammad Nourizad Faces New Legal Case During Imprisonment

Imprisoned civil rights activist Mohammad Nourizad has been brought to trial for a new legal case while serving his existing sentence. The Tehran Revolutionary Court conducted a session on June 14, 2023, to address the charges against him.

According to Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, Nourizad’s lawyer, his client is facing charges of “assembly and collusion against national security, propaganda against the regime, and destruction of property within the prison head’s office.”

The initial phase of Nourizad’s legal case began on August 11, 2019, when he was arrested by security forces for his involvement in issuing an open letter with 13 other civil rights activists, calling for the Supreme Leader of Iran to step down. In this first case, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, three years of exile in Izeh, and a two-year travel ban. While the prison sentence was upheld on appeal, the duration of exile and travel ban were reduced to two years.

In late April 2020, Nourizad received an additional one-year imprisonment for expressing support towards Baha’i citizens of Eyvanki in Semnan Province.

Regarding the second part of his legal case, the Mashhad Criminal Court sentenced Nourizad to 8 months in prison and 74 lashes, with exile to Tabas, for “disturbance of public order,” and an additional 74 lashes for “spreading falsehood.” This verdict was also upheld on appeal.

On November 17, 2021, Nourizad was released from Evin Prison based on an early release order. However, on January 23, 2022, he was summoned and re-incarcerated in Evin Prison to complete his remaining sentence.

Nourizad’s history includes prior arrests and convictions related to his peaceful activism. He is a renowned filmmaker, writer, director, and journalist from Iran. While previously known as an outspoken religious journalist, he has become an active critic of the Islamic Republic in recent years.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 31, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 31st, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Arash Sadeghi, a detained civil rights activist, was deprived from medical care which health professionals have said he desperately requires. He is suffering from bone cancer and infection in a surgical wound on his arm. Also, he has an urgent need for chemotherapy.

(2) Of the one million phone calls the Emergency Social Services Hotline received last year, 21 thousand were regarding child abuse and domestic violence.

(3) Saba Kord-Afshar and Yasaman Aryani, political prisoners, wrote an open letter reacting to a newspaper article that described the political prisoners’ conditions ‘favorable’, giving an overview of the hardship they face in the Evin’s women’s ward.

(4) The director of the Department of Environment of Tabas announced that two poachers were arrested in Tabas city along with a carcass of a chinkara.

(5) Parvin Mohammadi, a labor activist and the vice-president of the Free Union of Workers in Iran, was transferred to the Kachoui prison in Karaj to serve her one-month detention. She was arrested on January 29.

(6) Mohammad Ali Zahmatkesh, a teacher’s rights activist in Shiraz, was sentenced to two years imprisonment and one year of exile. His accusations are  “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the Founder of the Islamic Republic”.

(7) Shahin Barzegar, an Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, began his three-months imprisonment sentence in the Tabriz prison. His charge was attending the funeral ceremony of a former prisoner, Hasan Damirchi.

(8) Soroush Agahi, a Baha’i prisoner of the Evin prison, was released on bail. He and Neda Shabani, another Baha’i citizen, have been arrested in Karaj on November 28, 2018.

(9) Amnesty International requested the release of Iranian labor activists Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian who spoke out about abuse and torture they suffered in detention. They have been rearrested and are at risk of severe torture.

(10) A prisoner was executed in Nowshahr and a 24-year old was sentenced to death in Birjand. A prisoner who was accused of murder, was spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Karun after 12-year in prison.

(11) A member of Iranian Parliament representing Nishabur, Hajar Chenarani, confirmed that 200 workers of Khorasan Exhaust Manufacturing Company have been laid off.

(12) A 66-year old Christian converted, Esmail Maghrebi-Nejad, was arrested by security forces in Shiraz on January 15 and his whereabouts is still unknown. His home was raided, and his belongings confiscated.

(13) Saeed Sadeghifar ,an Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, was released on bail. The security forces on Tuesday, arrested him in Ardabil. His court was on January 24, on the charge of “establishing illegal groups with the intention to disturbing national security”.