Vahid Ashtari, Whistleblower of 'Sismoni Gate', Sent to Prison for Sentence Execution

The Judiciary News Agency reported on Thursday, the 31st, that Vahid Ashtari, a principlist activist on social media, has been sent to prison to serve a sentence from a case. Vahid Ashtari Mahini had previously made many revelations about Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of Parliament and a candidate for the Iranian presidential election, and was the first to bring up the case known as 'Sismoni Gate'. The Mizan news agency states that the Tehran Court of Appeals issued a final ruling on one of Ashtari's cases after reviewing it. The case was referred to the prosecutor's office for execution, and Ashtari was introduced to prison. According to the report, 'The judicial review of Vahid Ashtari's cases, which pertain to the years 1399, 1400, 1401, and 1402, was carefully examined at various stages of the prosecutor's office, the first instance court, the Supreme Court, the Judicial Deputy, and the Tehran Court of Appeals, and a final ruling was issued on one of his cases, which was referred to the prosecutor's office for execution and Ashtari was sent to prison.' Vahid Ashtari had previously written on the social media platform X: 'Yesterday, I accidentally learned that all open cases were transferred to Branch 14 of the Appeals Court without any notification to me, which seems very strange. Today, I found out that a ruling will be issued in the next couple of days, and I will be sent to serve my prison sentence.' He also stated on Thursday in a video on X: 'I have not received any message regarding the referral of any case to the execution of sentences, and I do not understand how 30 or 40 people were involved in my arrest without any notification.' Vahid Ashtari had previously published information about the trip of Maryam Qalibaf, Baqer Qalibaf's daughter, along with her mother and brother to Turkey, which became known as the 'Sismoni Gate' incident. At that time, images of Mr. Qalibaf's wife, daughter, and son-in-law at Tehran International Airport with a 'large load' containing baby items were circulated on social media. While Mr. Ashtari was sent to prison on Thursday, Maryam Qalibaf attempted to address the 'Sismoni Gate' issue in a television program related to the Iranian presidential election on Tuesday. Ms. Qalibaf stated that the mention of this issue is 'a lie from a faction' to discredit her father. On Wednesday, Vahid Ashtari published images of documents on social media, claiming that these documents indicate the amount of luggage the Qalibaf family had upon returning from Turkey.