Increased Pressure on Azerbaijani Activists; Mokhtar Ebrahimi Arrested and Transferred to Maragheh Prison

According to the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association in Iran (ADAP), Mokhtar Ebrahimi, an Azerbaijani civil activist, was arrested on Monday, January 22, and transferred to Maragheh Prison to serve a one-year prison sentence that the East Azerbaijan Court of Appeals had communicated to his lawyer. The Islamic Revolutionary Court had accused this civil activist of 'forming a group to disrupt national security,' but his charge was changed to 'propaganda against the regime' in the appeals court and reduced to one year in prison. According to ADAP's report, 'the judge in the case relied on several group photos' with other civil activists related to 'collecting public donations to assist victims of natural disasters,' in addition to '800 pages of articles and a DVD' of his speeches in private gatherings, to deem the charge of 'propaganda against the regime' as valid. Previously, Mokhtar Ebrahimi was arrested on July 25, 2020, when agents from the Tabriz Intelligence Office visited his factory in the Maragheh industrial zone. However, after a month of interrogation, he was released from solitary confinement in the Tabriz Intelligence Office on a bail of 500 million tomans. According to reports, based on statements from Mokhtar Ebrahimi's acquaintances, 'the case fabrication by the Maragheh Intelligence Office' led to 'baseless accusations' against him. Earlier, Yashar Hakkakpour, the director of the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association in Iran (ADAP), residing in Canada, told Voice of America: 'Mokhtar Ebrahimi is one of the entrepreneurs and a prominent example of a political-social activist who has been prosecuted solely for defending freedom of expression and the rights of ethnic Turks and has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison.' Mr. Hakkakpour believes that 'there is no evidence for the security charges in the entire case. The Maragheh Intelligence Office initially ordered the charge of forming a group simply for setting up a tent to collect public donations and transfer them to the earthquake victims in Turkmen Sahra and Kermanshah, and when they saw that there was no evidence for this charge, they changed the accusation from forming a group to propaganda against the regime.' He points out that 'the propaganda charge is also not valid for Mr. Ebrahimi, as he has not had a platform.' Pressure on Azerbaijani activists has increased in recent months, during which time; Mohammad Maleki, Ebrahim Rashidi, and Ashkan Saadatmehr have been arrested or transferred to prison to serve their sentences. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the violent treatment and widespread repression of protesters, as well as the ongoing and repeated violations of the rights of Iranian citizens, including members of various ethnic and religious groups, by the Islamic Republic. A labor organization: Sharifeh Mohammadi is being held 'in uncertainty' in Sanandaj Central Prison. Seventy residents of the village of Qareh Qashlaq have been arrested; elderly men and women are among the prisoners. A group of activists opposing the Islamic Republic staged a sit-in in London in support of Mojahid Korkor and Reza Rasayi. Ashkan Saadatmehr, one of the detainees from the 2021 protests, was sentenced to seven years in absentia.