The sentence comes after the first branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court found her guilty of “propaganda against the state” and being a member of the Zhivago Women’s Association.
Kurdestani was sentenced to seven months in prison for the charge of propaganda against the state and two years and nine months for being a member of the Zhivago Women’s Association. The translator was arrested by security forces on October 23, 2022, during the nationwide uprising. After being interrogated, she was temporarily released from custody by posting bail.
Renowned journalist charged with acting against national security
In another case, Zhina Modarres Gorji, a journalist and women’s rights activist in Sanandaj, has been accused by the first branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court of “acting against national security” by forming an illegal group and being a member.
Modarres Gorji was previously accused of “propaganda against the state” and “assembly and collusion against national security.” She was violently arrested on September 21, 2022, on Safari Avenue in Sanandaj by agents of the Intelligence Department.
After 40 days of detention in the women’s ward of Sanandaj prison, Modarres Gorji was temporarily released on October 30, 2022, on a bail of 100 million tomans. The case investigator also increased her bail amount to one billion tomans to change the arrest warrant. IRGC Intelligence summoned Modarres Gorji before her arrest, and the security forces threatened her that if she participates in the protest rallies, “you will never see the sun again.”
Conviction of a Ph.D. student
Hanieh Maroufi, a Ph.D. student in political geography at Azad University’s Central Tehran branch, has been sentenced to five years of suspended imprisonment and an 8 million toman fine by the clerical regime’s Judiciary.
The first branch of the Saqqez Revolutionary Court sentenced Maroufi to eight months in prison, and Branch 105 of the Saqqez Criminal Court sentenced her to nine months in jail. According to the decision of the Revolutionary Court, Maroufi could pay a fine of 8 million tomans, and the sentence of nine months of imprisonment by the criminal court was changed to five years of suspended imprisonment.
The charges against Maroufi include “propaganda against the state,” “disruption of public order and peace,” and “spreading lies.”
These cases are part of a broader crackdown on dissent in Iran, with many activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens being targeted for speaking out against the government. The sentences have been met with criticism from human rights organizations, which have called for the immediate release of those detained for exercising their basic rights to free speech and assembly.
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