Ali Nourani, Theater Director, Transferred to Evin Prison

Ali Nourani, a theater director and one of the detainees from September of this year, has been sentenced to one year in prison and transferred to Evin Prison. According to the Harana news website, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Ali Nourani was arrested on Wednesday, March 7, after being summoned to the Evin Prison prosecutor's office. He was previously detained at his home in Tehran in September and was released on bail of three billion tomans after 24 days. The 26th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced Ali Nourani to six years in prison on charges of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'collusion and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security,' which was reduced to one year in prison upon appeal. Harana also reported that a new case has been opened against this theater director. Following the start of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests in Iran, several artists, singers, actors, and cinema and theater professionals have supported the protesters. The Iranian government has resorted to measures such as summons, imprisonment, travel bans, and 'activity bans' against these artists. In December of this year, Mohammad Sadeghi, an actor in cinema and theater and an opponent of compulsory hijab, reported his five-year prison sentence, stating that the Revolutionary Court accused him of 'encouraging people to war and killing and disrupting national security.' Recently, Javaid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, described the human rights situation in Iran as a 'bitter reality' and urged the international community not to remain silent in the face of widespread human rights violations in Iran. A human rights organization reported that Saman Yasin has been shackled to a bed. The statement from the 'Promotion of Virtue' headquarters in Isfahan has increased the likelihood of another cancellation of Alireza Ghorbani's concert. The American PEN Association protested the conviction of Shervin Hajipour; the Iranian government fears the inspiring power of music. Another court session for Tomaj Salehi will be held on March 17.