Arash Sadeghi, Political Activist, Arrested to Serve '19-Year Prison Sentence'

The wife of Arash Sadeghi, a political activist opposed to the Islamic Republic, has reported his arrest. Golrokh Iraei, Mr. Sadeghi's wife, wrote on her Facebook page that her husband was arrested on Tuesday morning, June 8, while he was at the 'Shahid Moqaddas' prosecutor's office in Evin Prison to follow up on his case. Arash Sadeghi is 37 years old and has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times in recent years. This civil activist opposed to the Islamic Republic was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison by Judge Salavati. Mr. Sadeghi also has an additional four years of suspended prison time, bringing his total sentence to 19 years. Arash Sadeghi's wife has also been sentenced to six years in prison. In a previous interview with Radio Farda, Mr. Sadeghi described his charges as 'collusion and conspiracy against the regime, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, propaganda against the regime, and forming an illegal group,' while his wife's charges included 'insulting sacred beliefs and propaganda against the regime.' Arash Sadeghi was a philosophy student at Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran but was expelled from his studies due to his political activities. The mother of this civil and political activist also passed away in 2010 after suffering shock from a security raid on their home while her son was on leave from prison.