Samaneh Asghari and Javad Mohammadi-Far Arrested in Tehran and Urmia to Serve Prison Sentences

News sources reported that Samaneh Asghari, a student at Kharazmi University, and Javad Mohammadi-Far, a protesting citizen in Urmia, were arrested to serve their prison sentences and transferred to jail. Ismail Nazari, Mrs. Asghari's husband, a children's rights activist and student at Kharazmi University, announced on Wednesday, April 15, that she has been arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her one-year sentence. According to her husband, this sentence was executed on 'Wednesday, after visiting the prosecutor's office in Shahr-e-Rey and transferring her to Evin Prison.' Samaneh Asghari, an industrial engineering student at Kharazmi University, was first arrested in October 2022 during nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police, and was sentenced to 18 years and three months in prison by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. She was released in May 2023 under the title of 'pardon.' This civil activist was arrested again in September 2023 by agents of the Islamic Republic's intelligence at her home in Tehran and was released on bail after 20 days from Qarchak Varamin Prison. Branch 29 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced this children's rights activist to one year in prison last December, and this ruling was also upheld in the appeals court. In another report, the legal advisory group 'Dadban' announced that Javad Mohammadi-Far, a protesting citizen, was arrested to serve a five-year prison sentence in Urmia. According to this report and a knowledgeable source, Mr. Mohammadi-Far, 44 years old, was arrested by intelligence agents at his home on Tuesday, April 14, while he 'had recently undergone surgery' and 'the court had given him until April 26 to present himself.' This protesting citizen was sentenced to five years and two months in prison in July 2023 by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia on charges of 'membership in rebel groups, leadership in armed group organizations, actions against national security, insulting the founder and leader of the Islamic Republic, and propaganda against the regime.' The report states that previously, Javad Mohammadi-Far was arrested in July 2021 by Urmia intelligence agents and held for three months 'under torture and abuse' in solitary confinement. Pressure on political prisoners and their torture, as well as the fabrication of cases during detention by the security and judicial apparatus of the Islamic Republic, have been repeatedly reported by news sources and human rights organizations. Additionally, see: slogans against Khamenei and the beating of the 'Tabriz girl'; transfer from prison to a psychiatric hospital. Previously, Javaid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, in an exclusive interview with VOA, urged the international community to prioritize human rights so that the authorities of the Islamic Republic are held accountable for their actions.