Reconfirmation of Abdullah Momeni's One-Year Prison Sentence by Appeals Court

Hassan Asadi Zeydabadi, the lawyer of Abdullah Momeni, discussed the latest status of his client's case, stating that despite the annulment of the one-year prison sentence by the Supreme Court and its referral to an equivalent branch in the appeals court, Branch 54 of the appeals court did not accept the Supreme Court's ruling and reaffirmed the one-year prison sentence on July 2. Zeydabadi emphasized that 'half of Mr. Momeni's sentence has already been served' and stated, 'We will again request a retrial from the Supreme Court and hope that this time the ruling will be reviewed by branches other than those stationed in the Revolutionary Court.' Abdullah Momeni was sent to prison on Wednesday, January 17 of last year, to serve a one-year sentence for 'participating in the Dialogue for the Rescue of Iran conference.' His arrest at that time was accompanied by controversies. The judiciary claimed that Abdullah Momeni had insisted on going to prison. In response to the judiciary's claim that Abdullah Momeni insisted on going to prison, while the execution judge was in favor of delaying the execution of the sentence, his lawyer wrote on X: 'No judicial authority suggested a delay. I visited yesterday to find out if the sentence would not be executed, and they said no changes had occurred.' Zeydabadi emphasized that the claim that his client insisted on going to prison is irrational and, of course, untrue, adding, 'The truth is that Momeni made no request for a delay, nor was any suggestion made by the judicial authority.' The lawyer further stated that if the claim of a judicial authority's suggestion for delaying the execution of the sentence were true, 'there would definitely be records of it in the case, which there are not!' Zeydabadi continued that 'the reality is that a one-week or ten-day delay with the presentation of medical documents would not solve any problems and would only lead to uncertainty and delays.' Abdullah Momeni's lawyer added that he made no request for a delay in the prison sentence. This message from Abdullah Momeni's lawyer was in response to a claim by the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, which reported that 'considering the family circumstances,' the judge intended to 'delay the execution of his sentence for a while, which faced opposition and insistence from Mr. Momeni for the execution of the sentence on that day.' Abdullah Momeni, a political activist and former student activist, was sentenced to one year in prison for attending the virtual conference 'Dialogue for the Rescue of Iran.' After the two-day virtual conference 'Dialogue for the Rescue of Iran,' which included 42 political and civil activists inside and outside Iran and presented messages from eight political prisoners on the first and second of Ordibehesht last year, government forces summoned and arrested several participants in this meeting. Abdullah Momeni was also among the signatories of a statement supporting citizens' right to protest against 'wrong policies' and the 'destructive performance of the government' last September. This political activist was also imprisoned for five years during the 2009 protests known as the 'Green Movement,' and reports of torture and illegal treatment by the government against him were published at that time.