Lawyer of Mashallah Karami Confirms Sentence of 'Prison and Asset Seizure' for His Client

Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, a lawyer, announced the conviction of his client Mashallah Karami, the father of executed protester Mohammad Mehdi Karami, to six years in prison and the seizure of assets acquired through public donations. Mr. Sharifzadeh Ardakani shared this news on his social media account on Saturday, June 25, explaining that the sentence was issued for the charges of 'assembly and collusion and propaganda activities' against Mr. Karami. According to this lawyer, given the examination of two other charges in the Criminal Court 2, the Revolutionary Court 'does not have the authority to issue a ruling on asset seizure' and emphasized that they will appeal this ruling due to 'legal defects.' On June 1, human rights sources reported the conviction of Mashallah Karami, the father of executed protester Mohammad Mehdi Karami, to six years in prison, but Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani stated that the Revolutionary Court's ruling had not yet been communicated to him. The website Hahrana reported that based on a ruling issued by the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj, five years of the total sentence for this grieving father is for the charge of 'assembly and collusion with the intent to commit a crime against national security,' and one year is related to the charge of 'propaganda against the regime.' Nevertheless, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, Mr. Karami's lawyer, denied the charge of 'fraud' against his client and wrote: 'Two charges of money laundering and acquiring property through illegitimate means are under investigation in Criminal Court 2 in Nazarabad, and no ruling has been issued.' Mohammad Mehdi Karami was one of nine individuals executed by the Islamic Republic in connection with the protests of 2022. He was executed in January 2023 in the case known as 'the murder of Basij member Rouhollah Ajamiyaan.' Other executed individuals include Mohammad Ghabadlou, Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Hosseini, Saleh Mirhashimi, Saeed Yaqoubi, Majid Kazemi, and Milad Zahraei. Mashallah Karami was arrested on August 22, 2023, following a raid by security forces on his home and transferred to Karaj Central Prison. He has become a symbol for families seeking justice for the protests of 2022 due to his continuous sharing of images from his visits to his son's grave and that of Mohammad Hosseini, another executed protester in the Rouhollah Ajamiyaan murder case.