Confirmation of Six-Year Prison Sentence for Activist; Sara Siyahpour: Teachers are Being Intimidated

After the appeals court upheld the initial six-year prison sentence for Sara Siyahpour, a teacher and member of the Tehran Teachers' Trade Association, and sent the ruling to Branch One of the Evin Prison execution office, she told Voice of America that this sentence was issued "for the entire community of teachers to intimidate them and scare them." Sara Siyahpour was sentenced to five years in prison for "collusion and conspiracy against national security" and one year for propaganda against the regime. She was also sentenced to two years of travel ban, two years of prohibition from membership in political parties, groups, and organizations, and from activities in cyberspace. According to the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations, Ms. Siyahpour was deprived of access to a lawyer at all stages of the trial. This teachers' activist stated in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America: "My trial was completely formal from the very beginning. On December 11 of last year, I was contacted by Branch 15 of the court presided over by Judge Salavati and was told that the trial date was the very next day, December 12, and I had to appear in court without my lawyer." Sara Siyahpour added that "the trial session was conducted formally and lasted 10 minutes, during which Judge Salavati asked a few questions that I answered, and the date of my sentence was the same as the day of the trial, December 12. This means that Judge Salavati confirmed it without changing a word of the judicial officer's ruling in my case." The Telegram channel "Charter of Freedom, Welfare, Equality" also reported that the appeals court for this teachers' activist was held without her knowledge on March 23 of last year. Ms. Siyahpour noted in her interview with Voice of America that on January 25 of last year, she was contacted again by Branch 15 and asked to come to receive the ruling, and when she went, the same six-year prison sentence was issued, which she wrote an objection to. She added that in March of last year, "without any notification being sent to me, the appeals court was determined and the time was specified." In the meantime, on May 8 of this year, she was arrested along with several other teachers' and workers' activists to visit the wife of Mohammad Habibi, a teachers' activist who was then imprisoned, and was also imprisoned for a while. When asked why such a sentence was issued against her, Sara Siyahpour replied, "In my opinion and the opinion of many of my colleagues and even teachers who do not engage in activism, this sentence was not issued for Sara Siyahpour, but for the entire community of teachers to intimidate them and scare them." She pointed out that the judicial process for teachers' activists is "not fair," adding, "My trial is no exception to this." Ms. Siyahpour believes that the treatment of activists in recent years has been one of "suppression" and refers to the sentences issued for Ismail Abdi, Rasoul Badaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mahmoud Malaki, Mehdi Fathi, and many others who have received prison sentences or are awaiting judicial rulings against them. She states, "The approach of the security forces and the government is one of suppression." Currently, several teachers and teachers' activists are imprisoned on security charges, including Hashem Khastar, Hossein Ramadanpour, Omid Shahmohammadi, Anoush Adeli, Aziz Ghasemzadeh, Javad Laleh Mohammadi, Nahid Shirpich, Zeinab Hamrang, Maryam Jalal Hosseini, Nahid Shirpich, and Asghar Amirzadegan. According to the Telegram channel "Charter of Freedom, Welfare, Equality," Sara Siyahpour, in addition to being convicted in the Islamic Revolutionary Court, has also been summoned by the Administrative Violations Committee of Alborz Province. She points out that these committees in the offices and the Ministry of Education have become "the repressive arm of the security forces" and inflict additional injustices on activists through exile, dismissal, and removal from ranking. Sara Siyahpour emphasizes, "Despite all the severe repression and arrests, if we were to remain silent and not engage in activism, heavy sentences would not have been issued for our imprisoned friends." She states, "However, we insist on the legality of our activities and the legality of the associations and the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations, and we will not spare any effort to improve the living conditions and dignity of our teachers and students."