Hassan Bagherinia, Dismissed University Professor, Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison

Khosrow Ali-Kordi, a lawyer, reported that Hassan Bagherinia, his client and a dismissed professor from Hakim Sabzevari University, has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison and additional penalties by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad. According to information received by Voice of America, Bagherinia was sentenced to 6 years in prison for 'forming and managing a group aimed at disrupting the country's security', 15 months for insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and 3.5 years for 'colluding with adversaries to commit crimes against the country's internal security'. The court has suspended the execution of a 5-year prison sentence for this dismissed university professor for 5 years. The Mashhad Revolutionary Court also imposed additional penalties of a 2-year 'ban on teaching' and 'ban on leaving the country'. Other charges against Hassan Bagherinia are set to be reviewed in Branch One of the Criminal Court. The Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Mashhad issued 9 charges against Bagherinia in October of this year, and he was summoned separately to Branch 2224 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Mashhad to form a 'character file'. The charges listed in the indictment against him include 'colluding to commit crimes against internal and external security, inciting or provoking people to war and killing each other to disrupt the country's security, insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, insulting Islamic sanctities, propaganda against the Islamic Republic, effectively inciting military personnel or those serving the armed forces to rebellion, desertion, surrender, or failure to perform military duties, forming a group or association aimed at disrupting the country's security, and membership in opposing groups'. Hassan Bagherinia, a professor at Hakim Sabzevari University, was dismissed after supporting the popular protests of 2021. Since then, he has repeatedly commented in videos on current social and political issues in Iran, expressing his criticisms of the Islamic Republic. For instance, following the announcement of five days of public mourning for the removal of Hassan Nasrallah, Bagherinia stated in a video that the city billboards were filled with images of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon, while dozens of deceased miners in Tabas had no share of these billboards. He also deemed the claim of Masoud Pezeshkian to reinstate dismissed professors as futile, as Pezeshkian's superior, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, stated that 'an unreliable person', meaning questioning individuals, should not enter the university, while 'it is this questioning that leads to the growth of science.' Bagherinia supported the protesters during the nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody and was dismissed from his job. Ultimately, at the beginning of the last academic year, he announced his forced retirement after 29 years of service and stated in a video message that the reason for his dismissal was his 'refusal to remain silent' against the actions of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and his forces regarding the nationwide protests after Mahsa Amini's death.