Court Rejects Some New Charges by Revolutionary Guards Against Activist Sentenced to 7 Years In Prison

Atena Daemi and Family Still Face Legal Persecution

Three of the five new charges brought against imprisoned civil rights advocate Atena Daemi by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) were dismissed after two policemen made official statements supporting her version of events, an informed source told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Agents of the IRGC’s Sarallah headquarters initially pressed the charges after Daemi formally complained about their use of excessive force on November 26, 2016, when they raided her home while purporting to be transporting her to Evin Prison to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence for her peaceful activism.

The police who made the statements work for Iran’s 110 emergency police phone number and were responding to a call from Daemi’s home that day requesting help after the IRGC agents refused to show a warrant for her arrest.

Based on Article 58 of the Criminal Procedure Regulations, “When entering a residence or closed place of business, judicial agents must not only show identification, but also a warrant to enter the premises. The proceedings should be written down and signed by those present.” 

The IRGC’s charges of “insulting the supreme leader,” “insulting state officials” and “spreading lies” were dropped following Daemi’s hearing at the Shahid Moghaddas Court inside Evin Prison in Tehran on January 17 2016.

Daemi, 29, still faces the two remaining charges of “resisting arrest” and “assaulting the arresting agent,” according to the informed source, adding that they’re also completely baseless. Atena’s sisters, Onsieh Daemi and Hanieh Daemi, and one of her brother-in-laws, Hossein Fatehi, have also been summoned to appear in court on January 23 “to answer a few questions” in connection with the day’s events, added the source.

“They acted as if they had come to arrest a dangerous fugitive,” wrote Daemi in a letter from Evin Prison describing the excessive force, a copy of which was obtained by the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “When I asked them to produce a warrant, they attacked me. One of the agents, who I’m embarrassed to say was a woman, started to beat me. Then, when my younger sister tried to intervene, she was beaten on the chest, too.”

To date, no action has been taken on Daemi’s original complaint about the excessive force.