Pressure on Plaintiffs; Arrest, Trial, Imprisonment, and Whipping for Relatives of Victims of Protests

Pressure on the families of plaintiffs related to the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in Iran continues, and the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has arrested several of them and sentenced them to imprisonment and whipping. According to citizen reports on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 20 and 21, judicial officials of the Islamic Republic issued sentences of over six months in prison and 40 lashes for Hashim Saeedi, Sadiq Bahmani (father of Shahou Bahmani), Abdul Rahman Nasri (father of Matin Nasri), and Arman Habibi (brother of Aram Habibi), members of the families of plaintiffs of the victims of the nationwide protests in Kurdistan. Additionally, Ali Rouhi, the father of Hamid Reza Rouhi, a young victim of the Tehran protests, was tried on Tuesday, July 20, in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges of "conspiracy and collusion to disrupt national security." In another incident, reports indicate that judicial officials confronted the family of Zahra Saeidianjou, sister of Milad Saeidianjou, a protester who was killed in Izeh, when they visited the court to inquire about her status after her arrest, and they faced "violent treatment from the agents." The legal advisory group Dadban, quoting Hossein Ali Hatami, the lawyer for the Saeidianjou family, stated that Zahra Saeidianjou was "handed over to security agencies after her arrest," and during her mother’s visit to the "Izeh interrogator" on July 19, officials "promised to contact her by the end of that day from the prosecutor's office," and "hours later, Zahra called her mother from an unknown number and confirmed her arrest in Tehran." In this call, Ms. Saeidianjou informed her mother of her "transfer to Izeh." Hossein Ali Hatami said that on Tuesday, July 20, he again went with Zahra Saeidianjou's mother and brother to follow up at the "Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Izeh." The lawyer for the Saeidianjou family stated, "I personally spoke with the prosecutor of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Izeh and the investigator of the second branch, and we did not reach a specific conclusion," and they only said, "Refer to the judicial delegation in Tehran." This legal expert emphasized the "legal right of the accused's family" to be informed about "charges, place of detention, and the subject of the delegation," adding that they have not been able to obtain "the case number and delegation number" for follow-up and that "without sufficient information, the family will not be able to pursue the delegation." The U.S. Department of State has described the issuance of sentences for protesters, including Tomaj Salehi, as "unjust" and a "disturbing reflection of the Iranian regime's ongoing efforts to suppress and intimidate" those who "dare to express dissent." Additionally, Tomaj Salehi's uncle told Voice of America that "we demand the release of all political prisoners and the abolition of the death penalty" in Iran.