Civil activist Rezvaneh Ahmad-Khanbeigi was sentenced to six years in prison by Branch 24 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. She had been arrested at home simultaneous with the nationwide protests against fuel price hike on November 18.
The verdict issued on February 2, charges Rezvaneh Ahmad-Khanbeigi with “collusion and association against national security and propaganda against the state.” Her trial was held on Saturday, February 1.
Tehran Province’s Revision Court has already sentenced Rezvaneh Ahmad-Khanbeigi to four years and five months’ imprisonment in other cases.
If the Revision Court upholds the new verdict, it could be implemented according to Article 134 of the Islamic Punishment Law.
It is said that security forces ransacked her house at the time of arrest, confiscating some of her and her husband’s personal belongings. Mrs. Ahmad-Khanbeigi was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison on December 12, 2019, after her interrogation was completed. She suffers from epilepsy but prison authorities have not yet allowed her to receive her medicines in full.
A large number of protesters arrested in November 2019 are being tried by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in recent days, but the trials are not fair and the defendants do not have access to lawyers.
The age of protesters arrested in Tehran and its surrounding towns ranges from 18 to 21. Their common charges are collusion and association against national security and propaganda against the state. Each trial lasts only one minute.
Those arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were brutally beaten. The IRGC and Intelligence Ministry agents have told those arrested in November protests: It would be in your interest not to have lawyers.
Branch 24 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court is presided by the notorious judge Amouzad and Branch 29 presided by Judge Moghisseh are examining the cases of protesters arrested during the November uprising, exclusively. Judge Moghisseh was a member of the Death Committees issuing death verdicts for prisoners during the 1988 massacre.
