Mashallah Karami Sentenced to Another 8 Years and 10 Months in Prison

Radio Farda has learned that Mashallah Karami, the father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, an executed protester during the protests of 2022, has been sentenced to 'eight years and ten months' in prison. According to documents obtained by Radio Farda, Branch 102 of the Criminal Court 2 of Nazarabad County sentenced Mr. Karami on Thursday, August 25, to seven years and eight months in prison for 'participation in money laundering' and fourteen months for 'obtaining property through illegitimate means.' Mr. Karami was also ordered to pay a fine of '19 billion and 200 million rials' and to have his assets, including his home and vehicle, confiscated. This branch considered the public donations to this grieving father as instances of 'illegitimate property acquisition' and 'participation in money laundering,' and penalties have been proposed against some individuals who financially assisted Mr. Karami. Reports indicate that Mashallah Karami was previously sentenced to 'six years in prison' by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Karaj in early June of this year for 'propaganda against the regime' and 'gathering and collusion.' Mohammad Mehdi Karami was one of nine individuals executed by the Islamic Republic in connection with the 2022 protests. He was executed in January 2023 in the case known as the 'murder of Basij member Rouhollah Ajamian.' Other executed individuals include Mohammad Ghabadlou, Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Hosseini, Saleh Mirhashimi, Saeed Yaqoubi, Majid Kazemi, and Milad Zahraei. Amir Hossein Koohkan, the lawyer for Mohammad Mehdi Karami's family, was also sentenced to six years in prison. Mashallah Karami was arrested on August 31, 2023, following a raid by security forces on his home and was transferred to Karaj Central Prison. His lawyer reported last month that his client has been charged by the judiciary in four cases that are set to be heard by the Revolutionary and Criminal Courts of Karaj. Mashallah Karami has become a symbol for the families seeking justice for the 2022 protests 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 Ajamian murder case. He also visited the family of Mahsa Amini during the Nowruz holidays in 2023, and a photo was published showing him shaking hands with Amjad Amini, her father, in a gesture of unity and solidarity.