Five Young Protesters Arrested in August Protests Sentenced to Prison

According to reports, five young individuals arrested during the protests in August have been sentenced to six months to one year in prison. The Human Rights Defenders website reported on Sunday, October 21, that Saba Kurd Afshari, Yasaman Aryani, Niloufar Homafar, Mojdeh Rajabi, and Azar Heydari were arrested during a gathering in front of Daneshju Park on July 11, before the formation of the protest, and were transferred to Qarchak Prison. According to the report, these five were moved to the general women's section of Evin Prison after two months of detention in Qarchak Prison. The website stated that Saba Kurd Afshari, Yasaman Aryani, and Azar Heydari were each sentenced to one year in prison, while Mojdeh Rajabi and Niloufar Homafar received six-month sentences. The report does not mention the reasons for the arrest of these five young individuals. Street protests in August began following the collapse of the rial's value, economic instability, inflation, and the daily increase in the prices of foreign currencies and gold coins, but as the protests continued, demonstrators chanted slogans against the Supreme Leader, the government, and the clergy. Based on this report, dozens of those arrested during these protests have been transferred to Evin Prison, and some reports indicate that 50 female detainees were moved to Shahr-e-Rey Prison (known as Qarchak). Amnesty International called for the release of all those detained during these protests on August 8. This human rights organization also demanded an 'independent and impartial' investigation into the killing of Reza Outadi, a 26-year-old young man, during the protests in Karaj. The prosecutor of Karaj had previously stated that Reza Outadi was shot from behind by a weapon among 'the demonstrators.' Iranian officials have not accepted responsibility for the killings of most protesters who were killed during the protests of 2009, January 2018, and other similar cases, always attributing the shootings to 'unknown individuals,' 'agents of Western security services,' and people among the protesters. In this context, the police attacked a protest gathering in front of the parliament with tear gas, resulting in the arrest of 'a large number' of protesters; the merchants' protests have spread to other cities in Iran. Protests continue in Isfahan. The response to the protests during Friday prayers was, 'Do not stand against the regime because of your stomachs falling.' Rahmani Fazli estimated that there were '3,800 protesters in 27 cities' during the August protests, highlighting severe government repression and the risk of protests going 'underground.' What doctors and eyewitnesses recount about the injured in the protests reveals the extent of the violence. The limitations of relations between China and Iran have become apparent amid the protests.