Exclusive; Golestan Criminal Court Sentences Protester to 8 Years in Prison

A source informed Voice of America that Reza Najafi, one of the detainees from the nationwide protests in Golestan, has been sentenced to a total of "eight years of prison" in one of the cases against him, which is the "harshest punishment" applicable. According to documents obtained by the Persian section of Voice of America on Tuesday, January 9, the 105th branch of the Golestan Criminal Court, presided over by "Ali Abadi," sentenced Reza Najafi, a 38-year-old protester from Golestan, who was arrested on September 10, just before the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, to a total of eight years in prison. According to claims made by the judicial authority in the court ruling, Reza Najafi was sentenced to "four years of prison" for the charge of "buying, selling, possessing, and transporting weapons and military ammunition illegally" and another "four years of prison" for the charge of "carrying cold weapons for the purpose of conflict." Based on available documents, this ruling was issued based on the forced confessions of the defendants in this case. Previously, human rights organizations have repeatedly warned about the attribution of "baseless and unfounded" charges by the Islamic Republic authorities to protesters and political and civil activists in Iran. In the ruling issued by the Golestan Criminal Court, it is claimed that these charges were made "with the aim of disturbing public opinion" and "encouraging rebellion and unrest." "Unrest" and "unrest events" are keywords that the Islamic Republic authorities always use instead of popular protests. According to documents available to Voice of America, another case has also been formed against Reza Najafi in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Golestan with charges including "gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against internal and external security, membership in groups or organizations formed within the country with the aim of disrupting security, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic system." According to this report, the hearing for these charges was also held on December 27 in the Revolutionary Court of Golestan, but the verdict has not yet been communicated to Reza Najafi. A source informed Voice of America that Reza Najafi was arrested on September 10, 2023, by agents of the "Information Protection of the Law Enforcement Forces" in Golestan and was transferred to the detention center of the Intelligence Corps of Golestan Province. After interrogation and being informed of the charges in the second branch of the public and revolutionary prosecutor's office of Golestan, presided over by "Investigator Mostafazadeh," he was transferred to Amirabad Prison in Golestan and was temporarily released on November 18 of this year after posting a bail of 200 million tomans. Behrouz Izadi Rad, Mohammad Reza (Tahmoures) Shoghi, Amin Shirafkan, Reza Najafi, Parand Ghareh Daqi, Faezah Khalili, Maryam Rezvani, Maryam Khajavandi, and Roujina Ebrahimi are co-defendants in this case.