Informed Source to VOA: Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb Sentenced to 3 Years and 9 Months in Prison

An informed source close to Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb told VOA that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has sentenced this imprisoned human rights activist in Qazal Hessar prison to "three years and nine months in prison" without notifying him of the verdict. A source close to Ahmadi Raghb's family said on Thursday, December 9, that he became aware of the "three years and nine months sentence" when he visited the "prison warden's office" to "authorize his family" for "renting a house." According to this report, this political prisoner discovered unexpectedly in the warden's office that he has a definitive sentence until Aban 1405 (November 2026) without being notified of such a ruling or even having it registered in the "Sana" system. Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, who has a history of imprisonment, was released from prison in Bahman 1401 (January 2023) but was arrested again shortly after on Esfand 16 of the same year (March 7, 2023) while attempting to attend a teachers' protest against the serial poisoning of students in Iranian schools, where he was "beaten" during his arrest. This political prisoner was transferred to Qazal Hessar prison in Alborz province along with several other imprisoned activists in Shahrivar (September) of this year. He has previously gone on hunger strikes multiple times during his imprisonment in protest against human rights violations, including the rights of prisoners and plaintiffs. After being transferred to Qazal Hessar, in an audio file received by VOA, he described the conditions of this prison as "inhumane and unsanitary." In this message, Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb emphasized that the Islamic Republic "uses every trick to stay in power a few more days and plunder, destroy, and support terrorism," but "the sovereignty belongs to the people" and "the people demand the removal of these criminals and traitors from power" and "the observance of human rights" and "a national ballot box for elections" and "will no longer submit to the oppression of the clerics, the IRGC, and other paramilitary forces."