Tehran Prosecutor: Some Defendants of December Protests Sentenced to One to Five Years in Prison

The Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor stated that ten sentences have been issued for defendants of this year's December protests, with sentences ranging from one to five years in prison. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi mentioned on Saturday, March 10, in a gathering of Tehran's judiciary officials that indictments have been issued for 150 individuals, and the Revolutionary Court has so far issued ten sentences. He added, "The duration of the sentences is one to five years, and other cases are under review in the Islamic Revolutionary Courts or general courts of Tehran." Previously, the head of the Tehran judiciary announced that the main charges against those indicted are "disturbance of public order and destruction of public property." The human rights news site "Hrana" also reported last week on the proceedings for 15 detained protesters from December in the city of Tonekabon on March 5. According to this site, the mentioned trial was held collectively in Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Tonekabon, and so far, three protesters have received two years of suspended prison sentences. The widespread protests in December, which initially began in the city of Mashhad, quickly spread to other cities in Iran, with protesters not only voicing their economic demands but also chanting harsh slogans against high-ranking officials and the cultural, social, and foreign policies of the Islamic Republic. The Iranian Ministry of Interior announced that over five thousand people were arrested during the crackdown on the protests. The Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor did not provide details about the judicial process and how the defendants were tried or their access to lawyers, but the Iran Human Rights Campaign had previously stated that most of those arrested during the December protests did not have access to lawyers or family visits during the preliminary investigation stage. According to this campaign, some detainees also face the risk of being charged with offenses such as "moharebeh," which could potentially lead to the death penalty. Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi also mentioned the issuance of a new indictment against Akbar Heydari-Fard, the judge of the Kahrizak case, and Brigadier General Mohammad Royanian, the former head of traffic police and former head of the fuel headquarters. He stated that a second case has been formed against Ali Akbar Heydari-Fard with "six charges," but did not mention the charges against this former judge. According to the Tehran prosecutor, Mr. Heydari-Fard is currently in prison due to a conviction in the first case. As the spokesperson for the judiciary announced on June 20 of this year, the first case against the Kahrizak judge relates to "embezzlement," for which he was also convicted and imprisoned. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei did not provide details about Mr. Heydari-Fard's embezzlement but stated that he faced "three charges and heavy convictions for each charge," ultimately resulting in the application of the "harshest punishment" of 15 years in prison for one of the charges. The Tehran prosecutor also referred to the case of Mohammad Royanian, stating that "three charges" are raised in his case. However, Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi did not provide any details in this regard. The IRNA news agency reported on May 5, 2014, citing "an informed source," that Mohammad Royanian's arrest was "related to the fuel headquarters case." Royanian's associates at that time stated that during his tenure as head of the fuel headquarters in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, he had "allocated gasoline quotas to unrelated individuals." The Tehran prosecutor also mentioned the prolonged duration of the proceedings in this case, attributing it to the "necessity of auditing and expert evaluation of financial actions in the case."