Mina Soltani, a Mother Seeking Justice, Sentenced to Eight Months in Prison and Fined

Human rights sources have reported that Mina Soltani Zare, the mother of Shahryar Mohammadi, one of the victims of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests, has been sentenced to eight months in prison and fined. Milad Mohammadi, Ms. Soltani's son, wrote on the social media platform X that his mother's sentence was 'read orally and without written notification.' According to the Hengaw website, this sentence was issued by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court 2 in the city of Boukan, and she was sentenced to eight months in prison and a fine of one million tomans for 'propaganda against the government' and 'appearing in public places without hijab.' The judiciary of the Islamic Republic has not provided any information regarding this matter. Mina Soltani, known as 'Aunt Mina,' was arrested on September 12 of this year, just before the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the morality police, when government forces stormed her home in Baneh, and she was released on bail after three weeks. Her son, Shahryar Mohammadi, was killed at the age of 29 by government forces during the protests known as 'Women, Life, Freedom' on November 18, 2022. A photo of Shahryar Mohammadi sitting on the body of another friend who had been killed, taken the night before his death, became famous during those protests. Families of the victims in the Islamic Republic have always faced pressure and harassment in recent years, and the pressure on families seeking justice has intensified, especially since the protests of 2021. Masahollah Karami, Kamal Lotfi, members of the Pouya Bakhtiari family, and members of the Abolfazl Adinehzadeh family are some of the families seeking justice that have faced pressure and imprisonment in the past two years. A few months ago, Human Rights Watch criticized the ongoing pressure on families seeking justice, stating that the Islamic Republic wrongs the people twice: 'once by executing or killing a family member, and again by arresting their loved ones for demanding accountability.'