Mohammad Davari, Civil Activist, Sentenced to Four Years and Six Months in Prison

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Shiraz has sentenced Mohammad Davari, a labor and civil activist and political science student at Golestan University in Shiraz, to four years and six months in prison along with supplementary punishments. Mahmoud Sadati, the head of the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, sentenced Mr. Davari to three years in prison for 'insulting the leadership' and one and a half years for 'propaganda against the regime in cyberspace.' The supplementary punishments related to the charge of 'insulting the leadership' against this labor and civil activist from Dehdasht include 'a two-year travel ban through passport cancellation, a two-year prohibition on activities in cyberspace, and two years of exile in Bardasir, Kerman.' According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, the maximum punishment for 'insulting the leadership' is two years, and for propaganda against the regime, it is one year. The 109th branch of the Shiraz Criminal Court is also set to issue a ruling in a separate case regarding the charge of 'spreading falsehoods' against Mohammad Davari. Voice of America has learned that this civil activist abstained from attending the investigation and Revolutionary Court stages in protest against the 'unfair trial process' and 'the Ministry of Intelligence's case fabrication.' Mohammad Davari has previously been arrested and sentenced to prison multiple times due to his activities. Long-term sentences for journalists and political, ideological, civil, and trade activists in Iran have been issued in recent decades, while the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemned widespread human rights violations by the Islamic Republic in a resolution on November 15. Abram Paley, the deputy special representative of the United States for Iran, also expressed solidarity with the Iranian people who 'fight against oppression and violence for a free and democratic future' in reference to the adoption of this resolution.