Islamic Revolutionary Court Sentences Anisha Asadollahi, Labor Activist, to Five Years in Prison

A labor rights activist was sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran to a total of five years and eight months in prison; if the ruling is upheld in the appeal process, five years of it will be enforceable. A human rights organization reported on Tuesday, May 15, that Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Iman Afshari, sentenced Anisha Asadollahi, a civil activist, to five years and eight months of "prison sentence." According to HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, this ruling was communicated to Anisha Asadollahi's lawyer on Sunday, stating that this civil activist was sentenced to five years of "prison sentence" for the charge of "gathering and colluding" and to eight months for the charge of "propaganda against the regime." If confirmed in the appeal stage, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, five years of this sentence will be enforceable. The ruling communicated pertains to the court session regarding this civil activist's case on April 16. At that time, Anisha Asadollahi was temporarily free on bail, but on May 8, just before International Workers' Day, she was re-arrested along with several labor and civil activists at the home of Mohammad Habibi, a teachers' union activist. She was temporarily released from Evin Prison again on May 18 on a bail of one billion tomans. Additionally, it was reported that several detained teachers and labor activists were released on heavy bails. Anisha Asadollahi had previously been arrested along with her husband, Keyvan Mohtadi. Her mother stated that the detention of civil activists by the Islamic Republic authorities was to "justify the incompetence" of the officials.