Mohseni Ejei Explains Some Reasons for the Arrest of Political and Civil Activists

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, stated that the arrests of political and civil activists occur under two circumstances. Mr. Ejei did not specify the reasons for the arrests made by security agencies. According to ILNA, on Sunday, September 29, Mr. Ejei mentioned the temporary detention of some political activists, including a member of the National Unity Party of Iran, stating that he is unable to disclose case details. However, he indicated that when individuals are arrested, there are two scenarios. The spokesperson and deputy of the Judiciary said that in the first case, a temporary detention order may have been issued for them, and in the second case, there may be other orders from the judiciary issued for them. Therefore, according to Mohseni Ejei, individuals remain in custody until the bail or guarantee is posted. Mohseni Ejei also mentioned that sometimes a detention order may be issued, and the time for posting bail may take longer, in which case, after obtaining a guarantee or bail, the accused will be released. Mr. Ejei's remarks come amid a recent wave of crackdowns on various political and civil activists, including some web journalists, cyber activists, labor rights activists, and student activists in Iran. For instance, the organization 'Reporters Without Borders' condemned the recent arrests of Arash Zad and Mohsen Sadeghi-Nia, two Iranian web journalists. Arash Zad was the editor of the website 'Weblogina' and an active figure in the field of communication technology. Mr. Zad, who had lived in Turkey for the past two years, was one of the founders of an association called 'Kafshdoozak' aimed at 'increasing women's participation in technology and online business.' Mohsen Sadeghi-Nia is also recognized as a web journalist active in human rights, publishing reports related to human rights violations or executions in Iran on his blog 'Open Eyes.' Additionally, several labor rights activists, such as Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, Ali Akbar Baghaei, and Ismail Abdi, are currently imprisoned on security charges. Furthermore, Rasoul Badaghi, whose six-year prison sentence ended in August, was again sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope recently issued a statement referring to 'the efforts of authoritarian extremists to impose political closure on society,' accusing the Ministry of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani's government of 'colluding' with the IRGC's intelligence organization and the judiciary in part of the 'repression projects.' The Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope highlighted the death of Shahrokh Zamani, a labor activist in Rajai Shahr prison, the issuance of a new three-year prison sentence for Rasoul Badaghi, a jailed teacher, the arrest of several members of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, and the continued 'illegal' detention of Bahareh Hedayat, a student activist, while reporting the 'summoning and arrest' of several student activists ahead of the reopening of universities.