Mahdi Mahmoudian Transferred to Prison to Serve Eight-Month Sentence

After Mahdi Mahmoudian, a political activist, announced his summons for serving his prison sentence and said goodbye to his followers on X, his lawyer Mostafa Nili confirmed that Mahmoudian was introduced to prison to serve an eight-month sentence. On Tuesday, February 15, Mahmoudian wrote on the social media platform X: "Last week they told me to report in a month; today they called and said come right now!" Meanwhile, Mostafa Nili, the lawyer, told Emtedad that with the implementation of the eight-month prison sentence for his client Mahdi Mahmoudian, this political activist was introduced to prison. According to this lawyer, the case against Mahmoudian "dates back to the letter by Zia Nabavi regarding the presence of bedbugs in prison." Nili referred to a denial published by the government news agency Mizan regarding the existence of "bedbugs" in Evin Prison, stating that his client wrote two posts on X in protest, after which he was charged with "propaganda against the regime." The enforcement of Mahmoudian's eight-month prison sentence comes while, as emphasized by Mostafa Nili, "Zia Nabavi himself was acquitted of the charge of spreading falsehoods due to writing the letter about the existence of bedbugs in Evin Prison." He also explained: "In the same prosecutor's office, a decision was made to dismiss the case against Mahmoudian for the charge of spreading falsehoods, but a prosecution was issued for propaganda against the regime, and the case was referred to Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court." According to this report, the eight-month prison sentence for Mahmoudian was issued in this branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court presided over by Iman Afshari, and Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals also "confirmed this ruling exactly." According to Mr. Nili's statements, the sudden enforcement of Mahmoudian's prison sentence comes while last week, this lawyer and his client had "talked and received a one-month extension for personal matters," and "this request was approved." Pressure on civil activists, journalists, and lawyers has increased in recent months from the intelligence agencies and judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic in Iran. Additionally, see: Summoning of four journalists to Evin Prosecutor's Office and Culture and Media. According to the annual report of the Organization for Defending the Flow of Free Information, at least 256 journalists and media outlets in Iran faced judicial and intelligence prosecution last year. During this year, prison sentences issued against 11 journalists were enforced, and at least 36 journalists were arrested. Warning from Reza Valizadeh from prison about the "revenge project": I do not intend to commit suicide. Prevention of Aliyeh Matlabi's presence in the prosecutor's office due to not wearing mandatory hijab. Issuance of a death sentence for Manouchehr Fallah, a political prisoner. Saeed Mortazavi became a "lawyer"; a human rights violator in the guise of a lawyer. French unions called for the release of three of their nationals from Iranian prisons. Statement from three political prisoners on the anniversary of the "Great Deception of 57": This government is going to fall.