Atifeh Chaharmahalian's Case Closed

Atifeh Chaharmahalian, a poet and member of the Iranian Writers' Association, announced on her Instagram account that her case has been "closed." This member of the Iranian Writers' Association wrote that during a final review of the case with her lawyer, they noticed a new entry indicating that the case had been closed. She added that during her lawyer's visit to the relevant branch, it was stated that the closure of this case was part of the ongoing closure of political prisoner cases in the year 1401 (2022-2023). Atifeh Chaharmahalian was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison with "additional penalties" after approximately 70 days of detention last year, and her sentence was suspended for 5 years. Subsequently, in Esfand of last year, she was sentenced in Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals to 8 months of prison for "propaganda against the government" and 2 years for "spreading falsehoods," along with additional penalties including confiscation of her mobile phone, a two-year travel ban, and a prohibition on using a smartphone. She had previously reported on November 30 of this year about the "revocation of the suspension" and the enforcement of this sentence based on the "final ruling" of the court. Hoshyar Ansari Far stated: "With the arrest of Atifeh Chaharmahalian, they wanted to prevent cultural figures from supporting the protests." The suspended sentence of Atifeh Chaharmahalian was converted into a definitive prison sentence. International PEN associations have called for the release of members of the Iranian Writers' Association.