Two Mothers of 'November Justice' Sentenced to Three Years in Prison; Child Murdered, Mother Imprisoned

Mahbubeh Ramazani, mother of Pejman Gholipour, and Rahimeh Youssefzadeh, mother of Navid Behboudi, were sentenced to a total of three years in prison on Tuesday, October 2, after multiple arrests for seeking justice for their children. Their lawyer, Reza Shafakhah, announced that the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar sentenced Mahbubeh Ramazani and Rahimeh Youssefzadeh to six months in prison for 'propaganda against the regime,' six months for 'membership in the group of mothers of the victims of November 2019,' and six months and one day for 'insulting Khamenei.' Navid Behboudi, born in September 1996, was a mechanical engineering student who was shot dead by government forces on November 26, 2019, in the Qaleh Hassan Khan area. Pejman Gholipour, born on September 7, 2001, was also killed at the age of 18 by five bullets fired by government forces in the Andisheh town of Karaj in November 2019. After the deadly crackdown on the November 2019 protests in Iran, families and mothers of the victims connected through an online campaign and formed the 'Mothers of November' group. These mothers later joined the mothers seeking justice for the victims of the 2022 protests, demanding accountability for their children's blood and the identification and prosecution of those responsible for these bloody events, as well as the overthrow of the Islamic Republic regime in Iran. The number of seeking justice mothers has reached dozens over the four decades of the Islamic Republic's existence, including Goher Eshghi, mother of Sattar Beheshti; Mahmaniz Molaei Rad, mother of Kian Pirfalak; Sakineh Ahmadi, mother of Ebrahim Ketabdar; Nahid Shirpich, mother of Pouya Bakhtiari; Sedigheh Torani, mother of Farhad Majdam; Batoul Hosseini, mother of Behnam Mahjoubi; and others. These seeking justice mothers, who have lost their teenage children during the bloody crackdowns of the Islamic Republic, have always faced security pressures and harassment or have been imprisoned for insisting on seeking justice for their loved ones. A group of human rights activists has called for breaking the silence and collective support for the detained family members of the seeking justice mothers. The increasing pressure on seeking justice families and activists comes in the second anniversary of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement. Goher Eshghi's residence was besieged; security forces prevented her from holding a sit-in in front of the UN office. The government's 'endless' pressure on the Bakhtiari family continues; a few weeks after the arrest of Pouya's uncle, his maternal uncle was also detained. Government forces blocked the roads leading to Nika Shakeri's grave. The appellate court sentenced the brother of seeking justice activist Foad Ghadimi to imprisonment and a fine. There is widespread deployment of government agents and severe internet disruptions in Saqez ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death.