Appeals Court Sentences Hope Qadimi, Brother of Foad Qadimi, to Suspended Prison Term and Fine

On the second anniversary of the nationwide protests of 2021 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, the appeals court in Kurdistan Province sentenced Hope Qadimi, the brother of Foad Qadimi, one of the victims of these protests, to one year of suspended imprisonment and a fine of three million tomans. The Islamic Republic's judicial authorities issued this prison and fine sentence to his brother just before the second anniversary of Foad Qadimi's death. According to a report by the Kurdpa news agency on Tuesday, September 27, Hope Qadimi had previously been sentenced in a lower court to a total of three years and four months in prison and a fine, but according to the ruling issued by the appeals court on Monday, the punishment was changed to one year of suspended imprisonment and a three million toman fine. Previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Divandareh sentenced Hope Qadimi to 32 months in prison for 'membership in a Kurdish party,' eight months for 'propaganda against the regime,' and a fine of 85 million rials for 'spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion.' The brother of the victim, Foad Qadimi, was arrested on September 7 last year, just before the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death and the start of nationwide protests, in one of the streets of Divandareh without a judicial order and was taken to the 'Shahramfar' detention center in Sanandaj, where he was released on October 4 of the same year after posting bail. During the government crackdown on the nationwide protests of 2021 in Divandareh, 40-year-old Foad Qadimi was injured on September 28 and died two days later in Sanandaj hospital. In recent days, as the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in custody approaches, Human Rights Watch announced that Iranian officials have arrested the families of victims of the 2021 protests with 'false charges' over the past two years. According to a statement from Human Rights Watch published on Tuesday, September 20, 'Two years after the eruption of the protests for women, life, freedom' in 2021, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to 'silence and punish families' who seek justice for their loved ones. Mahsa (Jina) Amini died a few days after her arrest by the morality police on September 25, 2021, and her death triggered widespread protests across Iran that continued for months in streets, universities, and schools. During the government crackdown on the nationwide protests of 2021, hundreds of citizens were killed, and thousands were injured and arrested. Furthermore, the Iranian judicial authorities began executing a number of arrested protesters less than three months after the start of the peaceful nationwide protests. The Iranian judiciary has executed Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Mohammad Hosseini, Saleh Mirhashimi, Saeed Yaghoubi, Majid Kazemi, Milad Zahrevand, Mohammad Qobadlou, and Reza Rasayi, among the detainees of the 2021 protests, while several other protesters remain at risk of execution. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for action against the violent repression of protesters in Iran by the government. The European Union has demanded accountability for those responsible for violence and human rights violations in Iran on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death. Exclusive: Abram Peely: The U.S. continues to support the people of Iran and hold the Islamic Republic accountable. The UN Special Rapporteur on the second anniversary of Mahsa: We are witnessing the relentless resistance of women and girls in Iran. Australia has sanctioned 'five security and military officials of the Iranian government' on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death. Political prisoners in Qazalhesar during the memorial ceremony for the second anniversary of Mahsa's death: Khamenei is a tyrant; we will bury you under the ground. Empress Farah Pahlavi: The efforts of the 'religious tyranny' to eliminate the role of women in Iranian society have failed. Prince Reza Pahlavi called for the unity of Iranians against the Islamic Republic on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death.