Iran: November protesters receive jail sentences, while fate of others remains unknown
Published by Ali on February 11, 2020
International Liberty Association: Some of the November 2019 protesters are being tried and have been sentenced to long term imprisonment while the fate of thousands of others remains unknown. One of these protesters is Milad Arsanjani, 21. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for participating in Iran protests in November 2019, known as November Protests, which were held against the sudden increase in the price of fuel.
The Branch 1 of Tehran Revolutionary Court convicted him with “assembly and collusion against the state.”
Kianoush Jamali, 27, is another protester who is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
Mr. Jamali was arrested on 19 November, 2019, by the IRGC Sar-Allah Corps and detained more than 25 days in solitary confinement. He is charged with “propaganda against the state”, “collusion and assembly against national security” and “insulting the leader and the president.” Mr. Jamali was informed of his verdict on February 4, in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary where he is presently detained.
Payam Derafshan, a lawyer, also announced that his 21-year-old client was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and 74 lashes by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court for participating in the November protests. He is accused of “disruption of public order” and “assembly and collusion against national security.”
In light of the fact that the young man is the only one taking care of his elderly mother, and due to lack of any previous criminal records, the court commuted his sentence to three months and suspended his flogging verdict on the condition that he studies and writes over for six months three books designated by the court.
The fate of thousands of protesters arrested during the November protests remains unknown. Their relatives fear they are killed because they have not received any information from the authorities on their whereabouts and conditions.
The majority of women, those arrested in Tehran are reportedly being detained in the women’s prison of Qarchak and the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, Fashafuyeh prison.
Some of the detainees are classified as “leaders” of the protests have been denied legal representation. In other cases, the bail amounts are set so high that the families do not afford to pay them.
Mohammad Javad Kolivand, a Member of Parliament from Karaj, asserted that the protests against fuel price hike took place in at least 719 parts of Iran on 15 November, 2019.
Another MP, Seyed Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, announced on 25 November, that the number of those arrested in recent protests was around 7,000.
ILA has recently reported that based on the government officials, media and internal sources, the number of detainees is at least 12,000.
