Tehran Court of Appeals Rejects Conditional Release Request for Journalist Due to 'Necessary Punishment for Such Offenders'

The conditional release request of Vida Rabani, a journalist, was rejected by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the court cited the need to 'maintain public order and for the necessary correction and punishment of such offenders' as the reason for its opposition to the request. Ms. Rabani was arrested in October 2022 during protests against the killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini by government agents in Tehran and was sentenced in December of the same year by the 26th Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, to six years in prison for 'conspiracy and collusion against national security' and 15 months for 'propaganda against the regime.' This journalist had previously been arrested on January 14, 2020, for inviting participation in a protest against the downing of a Ukrainian plane by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and expressing sympathy for the victims' families, but was released the same day. Ms. Rabani was arrested again on November 23, 2020, and ultimately released from Ward 209 of Evin Prison on December 21 of that year. The Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced this journalist to ten years in prison and social deprivation at the end of 2021. In late August 2022, Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced Vida Rabani to five years in prison for 'insulting the sacred,' four years for 'conspiracy and collusion with the intent to commit a crime against national security,' eight months for 'propaganda against the regime,' and eight months for 'disruption of public order,' along with a five-year prohibition from professional activities. Ms. Rabani, born in 1989, resides in Tehran, is married, and is a member of the Journalists' Syndicate. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in journalism. The Midpoint Journalism School recently reported in its annual report on the increase in the repression of journalists in Iran that the Islamic Republic has committed 226 acts of repression against journalists and media in the past year, including 102 arrests or trials, 42 summons or complaints, and 144 judicial actions.