Mohammad Maleki, Civil Activist in Zanjan, Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence

Mohammad Maleki, an Azerbaijani civil activist residing in Zanjan, has been summoned to serve a 10-year and 3-month prison sentence. According to a notice published by Mr. Maleki on his Instagram page, he must report to the First Branch of the Execution of Sentences of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Zanjan by Saturday, January 6. According to the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association in Iran, ADAP, Maleki is being imprisoned under circumstances where the Zanjan Appeals Court refused to announce the branch and date of the hearing in the electronic system, denying the defendant's lawyer the opportunity to defend him. The Eleventh Branch of the Appeals Court, presided over by Yadollah Tarami, upheld the primary court's verdict without holding a session or hearing the lawyer's defense. Previously, the Second Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Zanjan, presided over by Azizollah Heydari, sentenced this Zanjani citizen to eight months for propaganda against the regime, three years and seven months for conspiracy to act against national security, and six years for forming a group with the intent to disrupt national security, totaling ten years and three months. Only six years of the ten-year and three-month sentence are enforceable, and of these, five years are suspended. Mr. Maleki's acquaintances told ADAP that this sentence was issued based on fabricated charges and without real evidence, and the judge relied on 'judicial knowledge' and merely a few screenshots and emails received after his arrest from an unknown group of youth in Zanjan, influenced by pressures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). They added that after the sentence was issued, the IRGC summoned Mohammad Maleki and asked him to become an informant for them to close the case, which Maleki refused. According to these acquaintances, the judge in the primary court told Mr. Maleki, 'We know this is not your work and I will acquit you. Just come and sign this typed document.' Mr. Maleki signed the document without reading it, after which the court issued the 10-year and 3-month prison sentence. According to this report, the judge responded to this civil activist's objection by saying, 'You confessed to your conviction in writing in my presence,' showing him the document. The 32-year-old Mohammad Maleki was arrested on September 16 of this year, coinciding with the anniversary of the protests over the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the custody of the morality police, in Enghelab Square in Zanjan by the IRGC intelligence agents, and was released on bail of 600 million tomans after a month. According to Mr. Maleki's acquaintances, he had previously been arrested during protests in front of the Zanjan governor's office against air pollution caused by the Zanjan lead and zinc mine and environmental destruction by government-affiliated mafias. Ibrahim Rashidi, a journalist, was arrested in Meshkinshahr. Ashkan Saadatmehr, one of the detainees from the 2021 protests, was sentenced in absentia to 7 years in prison. Javad Soodbar and Ali Babaei were temporarily released after 100 days of detention. Hadi Gholizadeh, a political activist, was arrested. Exclusive: Saleh Malabasi, a political activist, was arrested in the city of Ahar.