Milad Jalili, Protest Rapper, Arrested and Transferred to Tabriz Prison

Human rights sources report that Milad Jalili, a rapper previously sentenced to eight months in prison for 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic,' was arrested on Wednesday, June 6, to serve his sentence and transferred to Tabriz Prison. According to the Hrana news agency, Milad Jalili, who resides in Tabriz, was arrested last December and released two months later on bail. Hrana states that this young rapper was acquitted by the Tabriz Revolutionary Court of the charge of 'acting against national security by inciting the public to riots and violence,' but was sentenced to eight months in prison for 'propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran through performing political rap.' His sentence was upheld in May of this year by the East Azerbaijan Provincial Court of Appeals. Pressure on civil and political activists, critics, and opponents in Iran has increased in recent months by the Islamic Republic. Previously, Pouran Nazemi, a human rights activist in Iran, stated to Voice of America about the increasing pressures from the Islamic Republic on plaintiffs, prisoners, and political and civil activists, that the government has no intention of reform or retreat and that the security pressures currently imposed by the Islamic Republic on activists are 'greater than in all these years' and 'it does not matter whether you are an environmental activist, a civil activist, or a political activist.' Several Azerbaijani civil activists have been sentenced to prison. Hundreds of users on Instagram have called for the release of political prisoners in Iran. Javad Soodbar and Ali Babaei were temporarily released after 100 days of detention. Exclusive: Details of 'torture' of civil activists in the 'unofficial' detention center of Tabriz Intelligence.