Confirmation of 23-Month Prison Sentence for Roya Saghiri, a Detained Student from December Protests

Roya Saghiri, a student detained during the December 2017 protests and an opponent of mandatory hijab in Iran, announced that the appeals court has upheld her 23-month prison sentence. On Wednesday, July 10, she published the court's ruling on Instagram, which remained unchanged from the initial ruling, with the appeals court judge confirming the charges of 'propaganda against the regime and insulting the pillars of the regime.' According to the report by the HRANA news agency, the news outlet of human rights activists in Iran, Ms. Saghiri is identified as a student at Tabriz University. The news agency stated that Ms. Saghiri had previously been tried in the second branch of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court on charges of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'insulting the leadership,' receiving an 8-month prison sentence for propaganda against the regime and a 15-month prison sentence for insulting the leadership, which the appeals court upheld without any changes. HRANA further reports that Roya Saghiri was also sentenced in another case to one year of suspended imprisonment and 10 lashes for 'disturbing public order by participating in an illegal gathering' and 'appearing in public without proper hijab by removing her headscarf in the street.' Ms. Saghiri herself referred to this second judicial ruling on her Instagram, which is partly related to her protest actions against mandatory hijab in the country. The nationwide protests of December 2017 were almost simultaneous with a movement known as 'Girls of Revolution Street.' These protests began in response to the country's economic conditions in Mashhad but quickly shifted focus to target the entire Islamic Republic regime, including Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Hassan Rouhani, the President. Recently, Parvaneh Salahshouri, a reformist member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that over 150 students have been detained during and after these protests, with some sentenced to imprisonment, lashes, fines, or travel bans and deprivation of certain social rights. Meanwhile, during the December protests, several women and girls, inspired by a symbolic act by a figure later identified as Vida Mohammadi, climbed platforms and waved their headscarves in protest against mandatory hijab. Activists such as Narges Hosseini, Maryam Shari'atmadari, and Shima Babaei have been sentenced to two years, one year, and two months in prison, respectively. Recently, the court ruling for Shaparak Shajari Zadeh, another girl from Revolution Street, was also issued, sentencing her to two years of imprisonment and 18 years of suspended imprisonment. Ms. Shajari Zadeh has left Iran.