HRANA News Agency – The hearing of appeal request of Taha Kermani and Hussein Alimohammadi Alvar was held on Saturday, 16 January in Branch 7 of the Court of Appeal of East Azerbaijan Province. The Court declared the end of the hearing and will issue the final sentence.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), following the request of lawyers of Alimohamadi and Kermani for appeal to the sentence of 10 years imprisonment issued by the Revolutionary Court of Tabriz, the provincial branch of the Seventh Court of Appeals proceeded the case under the presidency of Judge Ataloo.
During the trial the defendants and their lawyers rejected the allegations and accusations. They believe that the basis of the case and also the accusations are affected by the pressure of security agencies and requested for the reasons and evidence about the accusations.
Afsharnia and other lawyers while presenting the defending bill to the court, drew the attention of the judicial delegation of the court to the absence of any documentation about the allegations and also solely emphasizing on the confessions of the detainees in the Intelligence Service which is in contradiction with the legal provisions of the country.
Earlier Jafar Afsharnia and Amir Bakhshi, lawyers of the activists while emphasizing on the fundamental objections and defining legally, had demanded a hearing.
After determining the appeal court’s branch, Branch 7 of the Appeal Court of East Azerbaijan province referred this case to the Court of First Instance, Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz, for correction due to a “procedural error” in the verdict issued against Hussein Alimohamadi Alvar and Syed Taha Kermani.
Hussein Alimohamadi Alvar and Seyed Taha Kermani had been arrested in Tabriz and after nearly 6 months temporary detention were released on the bail from Tabriz Central Prison. Judge Hamid Bagherpour, president of the third branch of Tabriz Revolutionary Court had sentenced these two civil  activists on charges of “insulting religious sanctities” and “distorting public properties and intending to opposition to the Islamic government” to ten years imprisonment.
The civil rights activists earlier were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment on charges of propaganda against the regime and insulting the leadership, due to materials published in the journal “Susma” and “Susuz göl” Blog in relation to the environmental issues surrounding crisis of the Lake Urmia, in the third branch of the Revolutionary Court of Tabriz which was just confirmed in the court of appeal.
Hussein Alimohamadi is kept among the dangerous criminals ward 12 of Tabriz Central Prison.
The activist with frequent correspondents has requested prison authorities to be transferred to political prisoners’ ward.
Hussein Ali Mohamadi Alvar is suffering from eye problems and because of having problems in the cornea he should use spectacle “UV” glasses and eye drops. He had requested the medicine from outside the prison but the authorities prevented him from entering the eye medication.
In July 2015, Amnesty International issued a statement expressing concern that the sentence of 10 years in prison for Hussein Alimohamadi Alvar and Seyed Taha Kermani was “unjustified” and “with political purposes” and “on the basis of confessions extracted under torture”. The statement said: “The both activist have been for 42 days in solitary confinement under interrogation without access to a lawyer.”
Amnesty International also asked for their immediate release.