Yasaman Aryani, Azar Heidary and Saba Kord Afshari were sentenced to one year behind bars, while Niloufar Homafar and Mojdeh Rajabi were given six months.
Three of the women were arrested at a protest on August 2, in front of Daneshjoo (Student) park in Tehran and taken to Qarchak prison, according to the Defenders for Human Rights Center (DHRC).
The five women were then transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Reports at the time said that Aryani, 23, was arrested after helping an old woman who was knocked to the ground by anti-riot units.
The five women posted a message about their detainment and called for help from inside a State Security Force van as they were being taken to jail, using one of their cell phones.
Protests
Like many of the recent protests in Iran, this one began as a protest against the country’s economic crisis, which has resulted in skyrocketing inflation, hardship, and soaring prices. Then, the thousands of enraged protesters began openly calling for the overthrow of the Iranian Regime; something that carries a death sentence in Iran.
Following the demonstration, dozens of protesters were arrested and taken to Evin and Qarchak prisons. Videos and images shared on social media show the Regime’s anti-riot units using horrific violence against the mainly young protesters.
On August 8, Amnesty International called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees, as well as an “impartial and independent” investigation into the suspicious death of Reza Otadi, 26, who was killed during the same protests in Karaj.
The Regime doesn’t admit responsibility for those killed during anti-establishment demonstrations and has repeatedly tried to shift blame to “unidentified” individuals among the crowd, even though Regime agents are often embedded in said crowds.
Sentences
Of course, these are far from the first protesters to be sentenced to jail in Iran this month. On October 17, Mazarei, the head of the regime’s justice in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province, announced that six protesters arrested in June were “sentenced to imprisonment and exile from 8 to 18 years” for chanting anti-regime slogans and burning images of national and religious figures.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) said in a statement: “The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights authorities and organizations to take action against arbitrary arrests and medieval trials of the dictatorial regime, and the release of political prisoners, especially those arrested during the uprising.”
While the Markazi Province Appeals Court confirmed the imprisonment-and-lashings sentences of four citizens for their role in the January protests.
