“Your Pens Should Be Broken” Journalist Jailed for Social Media Posts
Charged with national security crimes for his social media posts, journalist Masoud Kazemi has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, of which he must serve two years (subject ...
Free Expression
Shiraz City Councilman Begins Serving One-Year Prison Sentence for Advocating Religious Tolerance
“A few hours ago agents came to our house and took away my husband Mehdi Hajati to enforce a one-year prison sentence,” Hajati’s wife Zohreh Rastegari tweeted on June 2, 2019. A member ...
Defense Attorney Lodges Complaint Against Judge Moghiseh’s Lack of Impartiality
“You People Have No Right to Breath,” Judge Allegedly Told Political Prisoner Masoud Kazemi The notoriously hardline judge presiding over the case of former magazine editor Masoud Kazemi has repeatedly expressed hatred toward the political prisoner and refused ...
Icon of Iran’s Hijab Protest Movement Vida Movahedi Released From Prison
Eight months after she was arrested for peacefully protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab law, Vida Movahedi was released from prison on May 26, 2019, her lawyer announced. “According to judicial authorities, the reduction of her punishment has been approved and she has been granted furlough,” ...
Judge Moghiseh Accused of Cursing at Magazine Editor During Bail Hearing
The former editor-in-chief of the Sedaye Parsi (Persian Voice) political magazine, Masoud Kazemi, was detained on May 22, 2019, after being unable to post bail, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. During the ...
Iran: Release Political Prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared
Behind Bars Unjustly Since 2009, Eligible for Release in 2017 May 20, 2019—Iran must end the cruel and unlawful imprisonment of Maryam Akbari-Monfared, who has already served nearly 10 years on baseless ...
Second Women’s Charity Group Member Who Assisted Flood Victims Is Arrested
Both Women Being Held for Unknown Reasons at Evin Prison A second senior member of the charity group Voice of Iranian Women (VIW), which has been involved in aid and rescue operations during the ...
Harsh Prison Terms for Three Iranian Authors Who Dared to Criticize the State
Prominent Members of Iranian Writers Association Each Sentenced to Six Years Behind Bars May 17, 2019—In a glaring repudiation of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful dissent, the Iranian judiciary sentenced three ...
Reformist Magazine Suspended After Advocating Diplomacy to Ease US-Iran Tensions
Tehran’s Culture and Media Court suspended the reformist weekly magazine “Seda” (The Voice) on May 11, 2019, hours after it had published an article about the possibility of a war with the United ...
Paramilitary Force Attacks Tehran University Protest Against Hijab Enforcement Units
Basiji agents attacked several students ...
Appeals Court Upholds Lengthy Sentence Against Female Activist for Criticizing Chief Justice
Number of Women Political Prisoners Rising in Iran May 13, 2019 – A Tehran appeals court upheld a 7.5-year prison sentence against prominent political activist Hengameh Shahidi based on her social media posts in which she criticized former Chief Justice Sadegh Larijani and demanded a ...
Interview With Literary Figure Alireza Behnam on Censorship
“Authors have learned that they cannot write about things that are against the country’s official religion, or against national security, or anything that promotes ‘moral corruption’ and ‘indecency.’” State censorship of the ...
Rouhani Official Met With Students Protesting Law That Criminalizes Social Media Activities
An adviser to President Hassan Rouhani was met with protesters at Allameh Tabataba'i University in Tehran on May 1, 2019, where she had gone to hand out the government’s first Award ...
Several Detained Without Access to Counsel One Week After Labor Day Protests
Several workers’ rights activists including teachers who were arrested at rallies in Tehran on May 1 (International Labor Day) and May 2 (Iran’s Teachers’ Day) remain in detention without access to legal counsel, ...
Journalists Condemn Arrest of Reformist Reporter Ahead of World Press Freedom Day
Marzieh Amiri, a reporter for the reformist Shargh newspaper, has been in Evin Prison’s Ward 209 under the control of the Intelligence Ministry since she was arrested while covering a Labor Day protest in Tehran on May ...
Tweets Against Iran’s Compulsory Hijab Law Land Male Activist in Prison
Political activist Siavash Rezaeian has been told to report to a prison in central Iran for criticizing former Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani, criticizing Iran’s compulsory hijab law, and condemning the state’s ...
Charity Worker Who Assisted Flood Victims Arrested in Tehran
Charity worker Akram Nasirian was arrested by unidentified security agents in Tehran for unknown reasons, according to the Telegram channel of the Voice of Iranian Women charity organization. Nasirian, who prior to her ...
Three Writers Tried in Iran on “National Security” Charges
The trial of three board members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) was held at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on April 27 and 28, 2019. Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and ...
Banned Works at Tehran Book Fair Highlight Iran’s Corrosive Censorship Policies
“People Lack Buying Power, Writers Lack Inspiration,” Says Novelist Several books by dissident authors in Iran were banned from the 32nd Tehran International Book Fair (April 24-May 4) by the Ministry of Culture ...
Iran Sets Stage for More Crackdowns on University Students’ Online Activities
University students in Iran could be punished for engaging in online activities deemed by the government as “unethical” following the passage of an amendment to the Islamic Republic’s academic disciplinary regulations. “Publishing unethical photos ...
Detained Defense Attorney to Be Tried on Four Charges for Peaceful Activities
At Least Three Lawyers Currently Imprisoned in Iran Detained defense attorney Amirsalar Davoudi is facing four charges for running a Telegram app channel for lawyers in Iran and giving interviews to foreign news organizations, attorney Vahid Farahani ...
Iranian Actress Asks Minister Why She Was Pulled from Film Set Based on “Order from Above”
Iranian actress Maryam Moghaddam (also referred to as Moqadam), has written an open letter to Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi asking why she was suddenly barred from working on ...
Second Iranian Councilman Persecuted for Speaking up for Baha’i Rights
A member of the Isfahan City Council, Mehdi Moghaddari, has been suspended from his seat for six months in part for supporting a fellow councilman who had sought ...
University Student to be Flogged, Imprisoned for Insulting Supreme Leader
Supporters Barred from Court Room *Editor's note: Mojtaba Dadashi was taken to prison in the city of Sabzevar on April 13, 2019, to begin serving a three-year sentence, a source with detailed ...