Maryam Abbasi Nikoo, an Isfahan citizen, acquitted of 'Sabb al-Nabi' charges

Maryam Abbasi Nikoo's lawyer announced that the court acquitted this citizen who protested against the poisoning of schoolgirls from the charges of 'Sabb al-Nabi and insult to sacred values', but she was sentenced to pay a fine for other charges. According to the newspaper Shargh on Sunday, March 11, lawyer Roza Etemad Ansari stated that the judicial authority had attributed charges of 'propaganda against the regime, insulting the Supreme Leader, insulting the founder of the Islamic Revolution, insulting sacred values, Sabb al-Nabi, and inciting individuals to commit violent acts through computer systems' to her client. This lawyer mentioned that the Fifth Branch of the Criminal Court of Isfahan Province reviewed the charges of 'Sabb al-Nabi and insult to sacred values' against Maryam Abbasi Nikoo for several hours on February 18, taking her defenses into account, and added that the court issued a verdict of acquittal for her client from these charges on March 10. According to Maryam Abbasi Nikoo's lawyer, the first hearing regarding her charges was held online on September 18, where she was sentenced to six months of imprisonment, which was later converted to a fine of 24 million tomans payable to the government fund, and the appellate court confirmed this. Maryam Abbasi Nikoo was arrested at her home in Shahinshahr, Isfahan, on June 25, 2022, following her protest against the poisoning of schoolgirls. Concerns for this citizen accused of 'Sabb al-Nabi' arose as Youssef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zareh were executed in Iran earlier this year on charges of 'Sabb al-Nabi' and 'apostasy'. According to Article 262 of the Islamic Penal Code, anyone who insults the Prophet of Islam or any of the great prophets (Noah, Jesus, Moses, and Abraham) is condemned to death under the title of 'Sabb al-Nabi' (insulter of the Prophet). Furthermore, according to Article 263 of the Islamic Penal Code, the perpetrator must have 'intent, purpose, and will' for this crime to be realized, and if someone speaks in error, accidentally, in a state of anger, or without awareness of the meaning of the words, which is considered insulting, they have not committed 'Sabb al-Nabi'. On December 27, Beita Shafiei, Maryam Abbasi Nikoo's teenage daughter, reported her mother's temporary release.