Champion Wrestler Executed despite Evidence of Torture and Innocence September 12, 2020—The execution of Navid Afkari, the 27-year-old champion wrestler, by hanging at sunrise today in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, demonstrates the Iranian judiciary’s complete disregard for law, justice and international standards of due process. The ...
Imprisonment of Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders, Juvenile Executions, Singled Out for Condemnation In the latest report by the UN’s top expert on Iran, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, expressed “alarm” and “dismay” over ...
“The unjust sentences of political prisoners…may turn into death sentences if urgent action is not taken.” International pressure on Iran to release imprisoned human rights lawyers Nasrin Sotoudeh and Amirsalar Davoodi, both behind bars in the country’s Evin Prison for their peaceful defense of basic civil and political rights, has ...
Lawyer for Navid Afkari: Video Footage Proves He Did Not Commit Alleged Crime “There is not one shred of evidence ... they are looking for a neck for their rope” September 2, 2020—The Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari has been sentenced to death for allegedly killing a security man ...
Keyvan Samimi Sees Worsening Fear and Repression in Iran The veteran journalist and political activist Keyvan Samimi must report to Evin Prison to begin serving a three-year prison sentence for his peaceful activism and reporting. On August 21, Samimi posted a screenshot of an electronic summons from ...
Jafar Azimzadeh Should Have Been Released, Instead Given Another 13 Months Now Activist Has Contracted COVID-19 in Iran’s Overcrowded Prisons The prominent labor activist Jafar Azimzadeh, who should have been released from prison in February 2020 as part of a broad state-issued pardon and who has since ...
Evidence Contradicting Guilt Ignored in Effort to Cover Up Security Forces’ Culpability July 31, 2020—Death sentences against five men arrested in Isfahan Province, central Iran, in connection with nationwide protests during December 2017-January 2018, have been upheld by the Supreme Court, a source with knowledge about ...
Scholar Held at Gharchak Prison Alongside Violent Criminals July 28, 2020—The Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been imprisoned in Iran on spurious charges since October 2018, has been moved to the notoriously harsh Gharchak Prison, south of Tehran, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) ...
Alireza Alinejad Convicted on Sham National Security Charges and “Insulting” Supreme Leader July 16, 2020—Alireza Alinejad, the brother of Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, has been sentenced to eight years in prison, under sham charges that reflect Iran’s continuing persecution of the family members of critics of the state. Alireza's ...
Farsi version Farsi version (PDF) GENEVA (16 July 2020) – UN human rights experts today strongly condemned the decision to uphold death sentences against three men for participating in protests in November 2019. The three – Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi – ...
Both Executed without Notifying Their Families or Lawyers Politically Motivated Executions in Iran Continue to Increase Despite serious questions regarding evidence of guilt, two Kurdish political prisoners, Diako Rasoulzadeh and Saber Sheikh-Abdollah, were executed in the Central Prison in Oroumiyeh, western Iran, on July 14, 2020. The two men were ...
“I will pay the price of freedom with my life so that my memory stays in the hearts of freedom seekers and my people.” UN human rights experts have strongly condemned the Iranian judiciary's secret execution of 27-year-old ...
Death Sentence Was Result Pressure from Revolutionary Guards The family of Hedayatollah (Hedayat) Abdollahpour, a 27-year-old Kurdish-Iranian father of two who was on death row based on false charges since 2018, has...
She Must Serve Five-year Sentence for Reporting on Peaceful Labor Rally Freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan, issued a five-year sentence for reporting on a peaceful rally by sugar mill workers for unpaid wages, has had to report to prison to begin serving her sentence—even though some of her ...
At Least Nine Defense Attorneys Sentenced to Prison Since 2018 June 23, 2020 – Two years after the prominent human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary’s continuing prosecution of independent lawyers under manufactured charges is laying bare the state’s disregard ...
At least five defense lawyers are currently imprisoned in Iran for supporting human rights ...
*Update: On November 9, 2020, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Kord-Afshari’s lawyer, Hosein Taj, to review the 24-year prison sentence against Saba Kord-Afshari for her peaceful campaign against compulsory hijab. Based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, which stipulates that in the case of ...
May 27, 2020 — A new report released today by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) documents the extraordinary state violence that was used against protesters in Iran during the unrest that gripped the country in November 2019 and January 2020. The 66-page report, Gunning ...
“The trial did not last even a minute,” Legal Counsel Denied Civil rights activist Shora Fekri was taken to prison in Amol, Mazandaran Province, on May 18, 2020, to begin serving a five-month prison sentence for protesting Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, the Center for Human ...
Nearly one year after she was detained in Tehran, Iranian-born French anthropologist Fariba Adelkhah was sentenced to a total of six years in prison under "national security" charges that Iranian prosecutors have used to jail several Iranian dual nationals in recent years. "This revolting and ...
Four Defense Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran in Less Than Two Years Human rights attorney Payam Derafshan was denied access to counsel while being tried for the charge of “insulting the supreme leader,” for which he was sentenced to two years imprisonment and suspended from practicing law for ...
Scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert Kept in Bathroom-Like Temporary Holding Cell Since 2018 May 7, 2020 – A British-Australian academic held in isolation in Iran since September 2018, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has repeatedly attempted suicide and could be in extreme danger, according to information received by the Center for Human ...
Three Relatives of Iranian Dissidents Arbitrarily Prosecuted in One Month Amid a renewed crackdown on peaceful criticism of Iranian state policies, the son of imprisoned filmmaker and journalist Mohammad Nourizad is being arbitrarily prosecuted to “pressure” Nourizad to be silent, his wife told the Center for Human ...
Iranian Judiciary Contiguously Targeting Dissidents’ Family Members Iran’s Appeals Court upheld a one-year prison sentence against novelist Hamid Namjoo for the content of his writings and because he published work abroad, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Namjoo’s prison sentence includes a two-year ...
The brother of activist Masih Alinejad is being prosecuted in Tehran to “pressure” her to end her campaign against the compulsory hijab, she said in a press release calling for his release. A “portion” of Alireza Alinejad’s first court hearing for unspecified ...