Unfair Trials
Journalist’s One-Year Prison Sentence and Two-Year Ban on Media Upheld
Reyhaneh Tabatabaie Facebook Posts and Reformist Affiliations Are Her “Crimes” The journalist Reyhaneh Tabatabaie, 35, has been informed that the Appeals Court has approved her one-year prison ...
Cartoon 129: For Imprisoned Cartoonist Hadi Heidari
Security forces arrested the prominent Iranian cartoonist Hadi Heidari in his office at Shahrvand Daily in Tehran today, November 16, 2015. Two co-workers of Heidari at the Tehran daily confirmed the arrest and told the ...
Journalist Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Her Facebook Posts
Solmaz Ikdar The journalist Solmaz Ikdar has been sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “propaganda against the state.” The charges were ...
Fifteen Baha’is Arrested by Rouhani’s Intelligence Ministry
In a fresh crackdown on Iran’s Baha’i community, one of the most persecuted religious minorities in Iran, 15 followers of the faith were simultaneously arrested in Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad on November 15, 2015, by ...
Women Drivers Not Wearing Hijab Face Tough Police Action
Cars driven by women who do not observe the hijab (head covering for women) will be impounded and fines will be imposed, according to strict new regulations by Iran’s police force. In addition, ...
Prisoner of Conscience on Hunger Strike Transferred to Clinic as His Condition Worsens
Fourteen days after prisoner of conscience Ali Shariati embarked on a hunger strike to protest the judicial process of his case, he remains on strike inside Evin Prison. His condition was defined as “very worrying” ...
Cartoon 127: Who Will be Arrested Tomorrow?
Reacting to the recent arrests of Iranian journalists by the IRGC, and extensive articles on the subject on ultra-conservative media such as Kayhan and Fars News Agency, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during ...
Cartoon 126: Khamenei’s Green Light for Press Crackdown
Several journalists were arrested in Iran over the past week in an intensifying campaign of repression that is based on the belief, spearheaded by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, that the US intends to ...
Sunni Kurd Faces Imminent Execution for His Activism
Shahram Ahmadi Shahram Ahmadi has been sentenced to death in Iran due to his activism as a Sunni Muslim and a Kurd. Members of ethnic ...
Arrests Gather Pace in Iran after Khamenei Gives Green Light for Crackdown
Fear of Post-Nuclear Deal Rapprochement with West Drives Intensified Repression November 9, 2015—Several journalists were arrested in Iran over the past week in an intensifying campaign of repression that is based on ...
Prominent Reformist Journalist Arrested for “Insulting Supreme Leader”
The political journalist Issa Saharkhiz has been arrested on charges of “intending to disrupt national security,” “propaganda against the state,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader,” according to his son Mehdi. ...
Washington Post OpEd: Free Omid Kokabee, another Iranian prisoner of conscience
By Herbert L. Berk October 30 Herbert L. Berk is chairman of the American Physical Society’s Committee ...
Clerical Battles over Legally Sanctioned Retaliatory Killings and Stoning Continues in Iran
Controversy over Strict Adherence to Islamic Law Dates Back to 1979 Revolution A battle over the necessity of strict adherence to Islamic law, including Quranic punishments that in modern times have been designated by the UN ...
Reformist Journalist Freed from Prison after Serving Four Years
Alireza Rajaei The prominent journalist Alireza Rajaee has been released from prison upon completion of a four-year sentence for his journalistic work and peaceful political activism. Rajaee, a ...
Revolutionary Guards Treat Protesting Teachers as Agitators, Lawyer Says
Peyman Haj-Mahmoud Attar, the lawyer for the Teachers Association of Iran The intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards considers ...
Iran Should Allow UN Human Rights Expert into Country
International Community Should Pursue Human Rights with Same Commitment as the Nuclear Deal October 29, 2015—The international community should urge Iranian authorities to allow the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, into the country, said the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and ...
Prominent Iranian Reformist Politician Sentenced to Six Years in Prison
Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam Esmail Gerami Moghaddam, a former Member of Parliament and spokesman for a reformist party has been sentenced to six years in prison. Moghaddam’s lawyer, Nemat ...
Congressman Keith Ellison Calls for Immediate Release of Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian
The US Congressional Representative from Minnesota, Keith Ellison, called today in a video message for the “unconditional release of Jason Rezaian.” “I call on the Iranian government to recognize that the truth should never be a crime, and Rezaian must be released immediately,” said Congressman Ellison, in an exclusive ...
Arrested Student Activist Under Intense Pressure to Make False Confession, Says Family
Amin Anvari’s mother, Farah Bakhshi Student activist Amin Anvari, 21, who received a suspended prison sentence earlier this year for Facebook postings promoting basic civil ...
Narges Mohammadi Should Be Released Immediately and Given Medical Treatment
Narges Mohammadi October 20, 2015—The health of imprisoned activist Narges Mohammadi has deteriorated, and the prominent human rights defender is now reportedly chained to a hospital bed, denied ...
Kurdish Filmmaker’s Six-Year Prison Sentence and 223 Lashes Illegal, Says Lawyer
Keywan Karimi The harsh judgment against filmmaker Keywan Karimi for “insulting the sacred” and “illegitimate relations” is baseless and illegal, his lawyer Amir Raeesian told the International Campaign ...
Teacher to Begin Prison Sentence for Her Work at Baha’i University
Azita Rafizadeh and her family Azita Rafizadeh, a Baha’i citizen and instructor at the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) online university, must report ...
Imprisoned Spiritual Leader on Hunger Strike Has Become “Like a Skeleton”
The family of Mohammad Ali Taheri, the imprisoned leader of a peaceful spiritual group, is alarmed by his deteriorating health after his two month-long hunger strike. He began the hunger strike on August 13, 2015 ...
Two Poets Sentenced to Flogging and Nine and Eleven Years in Prison
Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi Forced Confessions Used as Primary Evidence in Convictions October 14, 2015—A Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced the poets Fatemeh Ekhtesari and ...