Arrest of One Person in Isfahan for Promoting 'Election Boycott'

One person in 'Zarrin Shahr' of Isfahan has been arrested on charges of promoting a 'monarchical' government and engaging in propaganda to 'boycott' the presidential elections. According to the 'Mizan' news agency, Ahmad Khosravi Vafa, the head of the judiciary in Isfahan province, reported on Saturday, May 6, the arrest of an individual in 'Zarrin Shahr' who has been promoting 'monarchism' on social media. Mr. Khosravi Vafa stated that other charges against this detainee include 'defaming government officials', 'blackening the overall policies of the system', and 'boycotting the elections'. The twelfth presidential elections in Iran are scheduled to be held on May 18, which has once again led to various discussions on social media about boycotting or participating in this election. The arrest of a supporter of the election boycott in the virtual space is one of the judiciary's actions during this election period, which is unprecedented in its nature. The Iranian judiciary has been arresting some social media activists in various cultural, social, and civil fields for years on various charges and blocking their 'Telegram' channels or social media pages. In the latest of these actions, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported the arrest of two managers of a 'Telegram' channel active in the field of 'workers and child labor'. This campaign reported, citing an informed source, that Hiwa Kiai and Mahdi Salahi have been detained in 'Mahabad' since April 2, and their fate is still unknown. According to this source, 'their families are still unaware of the charges, the place of detention, and the detaining authority of these two citizens, and judicial and security officials have not accepted responsibility for this arrest.' According to the report, Hiwa Kiai and Mahdi Salahi informed their families of their arrest in a brief phone call on April 4, but did not mention the charges, reasons for their arrest, or their place of detention. These two individuals managed a 'Telegram' channel named 'Silent Cry', which, according to this informed source, focuses on 'the problems of workers and child labor'. Over the past two years, the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence, two powerful security agencies in Iran, alongside the judiciary, have separately arrested managers active on Telegram. In the last days of Esfand 1395, several managers of Telegram channels supportive of President Hassan Rouhani were arrested by the IRGC Intelligence, some of whom remain detained despite protests from the government and parliament.