Baloch Woman Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Posting on Instagram

Human rights media report that Elham Estadi, an English teacher, has been sentenced to one year in prison for posting "an Instagram post." Shivar News reported that Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan sentenced this resident of Iranshahr on August 21 on charges of "propaganda against the regime." Elham Estadi had published a post during the protests of 2022 in response to the "rape of a 15-year-old Baloch girl" on the social media platform Instagram. According to Shivar News, Ms. Estadi faced this ruling despite not being present in the streets during the protests that occurred in Zahedan in reaction to this incident. Bidar Zani media also reported that this Baloch woman was sentenced to a fine in another case for "disturbing public opinion." The Friday prayer leader of Rask confirmed the "horrific" rape by the police commander of Chabahar against the 15-year-old girl. Security forces violently arrested Ms. Estadi in Chabahar on August 21 last year without presenting a judicial order and transferred her to Zahedan Central Prison after two days. She was temporarily released on September 2 of the same year on a bail of 200 million tomans. According to reports from human rights media active in Sistan and Baluchestan, Ebrahim Kouhkezai, the former police chief of Chabahar, on September 1, 2022, under the pretext of interrogating a 15-year-old girl from Dashtiari, took her to his office's rest room and "raped" her. The publication of these reports led to the formation of public protests in Sistan and Baluchestan, peaking on October 1, 2022, in Zahedan, an event that faced bloody repression by security forces and reportedly left at least 90 dead, according to human rights and local sources. This protest gathering is referred to as the "Bloody Friday of Zahedan" and marked the beginning of numerous weekly protests in this city. The police commander accused of "sexual assault" in Chabahar was sentenced to 15 months in prison.