Intelligence Ministry Denies Labor Activists Qoliyan and Bakhshi Medical Treatment
Supporters of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan hold up a sign demanding that the labor activists be released. Detainees Remain in Custody of Same Agency They ...
Free Expression
Concert Cancellations Continue in Mashhad Due to Intolerance by Religious Conservatives
A concert by the popular Persian pop band Hoorosh was canceled by judicial order an hour before show time on February 20, 2019, in the city of Firouzeh, northeastern Iran, after a powerful local ayatollah pressured the authorities. ...
Intelligence Ministry Threatens Families of Labor Activists Bakhsi, Qoliyan With Prosecution
The Intelligence Ministry in the city of Shush, southwestern Iran, summoned the families of detained labor activist Esmail Bakhshi and freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan and warned them not to speak to the media, the worker’s union of the nearby Haft ...
Niloufar Bayani Absent from Trial After Protesting Prosecution’s Use of Forced “Confessions”
Authorities Interrogated Three People, Warned Them Not to Speak About Cases After protesting the prosecution’s use of false statements she had made under the threat of torture, Niloufar Bayani has been absent from three out of the five court sessions that have been held so far ...
Imprisoned Journalist Hamed Aynehvand Denied Right to Post Bail in Iran
Aynehvand Denied Legal Counsel by Hardline Judge Mohammad Moghiseh Judicial officials in Evin Prison in Tehran are illegally preventing the release of political journalist Hamed Aynehvand by falsely claiming he has insufficient funds to post bail. Aynehvand, who was denied access to ...
Sugar Mill Workers Call for International Action to Free Detained Colleagues Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan
Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Pressured to Retract Torture Allegations A union representing workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in the Iranian city of Shush, Khuzestan Province, has called on individuals and international organizations to demand the release of union representative Esmail ...
Ten Detained Political Activists and Environmentalists Denied Counsel in Iran’s Kurdistan Province
Ten political activists and environmentalists arrested in Iran’s Kurdistan Province between December 31, 2018, and January 6, 2019, are being held at the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in the city of Sanandaj while being denied access to legal counsel and contact with family ...
Unable to Move His Arm, Arash Sadeghi Denied Hospitalization for Infected Biopsy Wound
“What’s certain is that he needs to be urgently hospitalized” Arash Sadeghi, a political prisoner in Iran, has lost the ability to move his right arm due to an infection on his shoulder that has been left untreated in ...
Renewed Pressure in Iran to Block Instagram After Activist’s Post About Torture Makes Headlines
A labor activist’s widely read Instagram post alleging he was tortured while in the custody of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry was never fully investigated but one judicial official did respond by suggesting that the app ...
Three Members of Iran’s Writers Association Charged With National Security Crimes for Opposing Censorship
Three senior members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) have been charged with national security crimes for peacefully protesting state censorship policies, according to a statement posted by the trade union on Facebook on January ...
Human Rights Lawyer Mohammad Najafi Facing 19 Years Behind Bars in Iran
Najafi Jailed for Demanding Justice for Detainee Who Died in State Custody Imprisoned human rights attorney Mohammad Najafi was sentenced to two more years in prison in Iran on January 22, 2019—bringing the total number of years he has been condemned to serve ...
Journalist to Serve Five Years in Prison for Uncovering Corruption in Tehran Municipality
Yashar Soltani’s Investigate Expose Implicated City Officials and MPs Journalist Yashar Soltani has been sentenced to five years in prison for exposing extensive corruption within the Tehran municipality, his lawyer announced January 23, 2019. “Let’s turn this unjust verdict ...