Arrest of Three Citizens in Sarvabad and Reopening of Mojtaba Rahimi's Case After His 'Pardon' in Qazvin

As government pressures on women and the suppression of their right to choose their attire increase, news and human rights sources report the continued detention of three citizens in Sarvabad, Kurdistan, and the reopening of a journalist's case who was previously 'pardoned' in Qazvin. According to the report by Hrana, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, on Thursday, April 30, three citizens named Omid Shahdad, Ali Hosseini, and Omar Hosseini were arrested by the intelligence officials of the Islamic Republic in Sarvabad, one of the counties in Kurdistan province in western Iran. Based on this report, these three citizens from the village of 'Diyoznav' in Sarvabad were arrested 'without a judicial order' in their homes and transferred to an unknown location, with no information available regarding the reasons for their arrest or the charges against them. Additionally, Mojtaba Rahimi, a journalist who was arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022 and was released later under the title of 'pardon,' has reported that his case has been reopened. This journalist shared an image of a summons he received on Thursday, April 30, from Branch 102 of the Criminal Court 2 of Qazvin, announcing that he must return to court to face charges of conspiracy, collusion, and spreading falsehoods. Mojtaba Rahimi, a political journalist, was one of dozens of journalists arrested in 2022 during the nationwide protests after tweeting about the deaths of several protesters in and around his hometown. In addition to the arrests of citizens and the reopening of previous cases against civil activists and journalists, the pressure from the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic on political prisoners has also increased. According to a previous report, the judicial authorities arranged a virtual meeting for Fatemeh Sepahri, a political prisoner in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, with a 'psychological interrogator,' which caused her condition to become 'very bad,' leading to her transfer to the prison infirmary. Furthermore, following the transfer of Saeed Madani to Damavand prison, the family of this political prisoner expressed their concerns for his health in an open letter, stating that his 'exile' was the result of a consultative council meeting of the judiciary attended by its head, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. Observers note that the fifth day of the establishment of forces suppressing optional attire has shown that Khamenei has 'declared a war on women.' Tomaj Salehi emphasized the 'illegality' of the court, stating that the trial is 'at the request of intelligence agencies.' Aida Shakerami, the sister of Nika Shakerami, was arrested for 'not wearing mandatory hijab.' Sediqeh Vosoughi was sent from Evin prison to the hospital 'without a headscarf.' Four individuals, including three family members, were sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison. Reactions to the government's move for a 'war against women' indicate that this mobilization reflects the weakness of the Islamic Republic.