New Conviction of Abolfazl Ghadiani; Three Years in Prison and Copying Three Books

Abolfazl Ghadiani, a political activist, has been sentenced to three years in prison and to 'study and copy three books' published by government institutions, according to his son, Morteza Ghadiani. He stated on Twitter that his father was sentenced to two years for 'insulting the leadership' and one year for 'propaganda against the regime.' Due to the 'multiplicity of crimes,' the heavier punishment of two years will be enforced. This ruling cites reports from the Tharallah Headquarters in Tehran and the Ministry of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani's government regarding Mr. Ghadiani. Additionally, Mr. Ghadiani has been sentenced to 'study and copy' the books 'Hekayat-e Zemestan' by Saeed Akef, 'Dastan-e Sistan' by Reza Amirkhani, and 'Doshman Shenasi' from the publications of the Islamic Revolution. The ruling references statements made by Mr. Ghadiani in 2012 when he was in prison, where he described the concept of Velayat-e Faqih as an 'anti-Islamic and anti-human theory.' At that time, he emphasized: 'Since the birth of the Green Movement... there is no longer room for compromise with the country's top official and the main perpetrator of all these crimes, Ali Khamenei.' In Bahman, Mr. Ghadiani announced that he had been summoned to the Revolutionary Court but would not attend as he considers it 'illegal.' This senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution was arrested after the protests of 2009 and imprisoned for a year. He was again sentenced in 2012 to two years in prison and 40 lashes. He has repeatedly held the Supreme Leader responsible for the country's political and economic situation. In his latest writing, he analyzed a recent statement by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asserting that the Supreme Leader 'will not submit to reform,' and that the only solution to exit this 'deadlock' is 'unified resistance' from all political factions to 'break the hardship of despotism and submit to a nationwide referendum for changing the ruling system.' On Tir 16, he also stated that the 'effective solution' to Iran's problems is the removal of the Supreme Leader, addressing reformists who 'seek to reform matters while maintaining a corrupt and defective structure,' saying they 'are either not reformists at all or only harbor impossible dreams.'