Zanjan Revolutionary Court Sentences Protester to 'Monetary Penalty Instead of Imprisonment'

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Zanjan province sentenced Alireza Ghasemi, a protesting citizen, to pay 50 million tomans as a monetary penalty instead of a custodial sentence. According to a report by HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Tuesday, November 14, based on the ruling of the second branch of the Zanjan Revolutionary Court, Alireza Ghasemi was sentenced to pay six million tomans as a monetary penalty instead of eight months of custodial imprisonment for the charge of 'propaganda against the regime,' and for the charge of 'insulting the leader' of the Islamic Republic, he was sentenced to pay 24 million tomans as a monetary penalty instead of one year and four months of custodial imprisonment. This court also sentenced this protesting citizen to pay 20 million tomans as a monetary penalty instead of one year and four months of custodial imprisonment for the charge of 'insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic.' Alireza Ghasemi was arrested by the Zanjan Intelligence Department on September 11, 2023, and was released on bail ten days later, on September 30. The hearing for his charges was held on November 4 in the second branch of the Zanjan Revolutionary Court. According to human rights organizations, following the violation of freedom of expression of Iranian citizens by the Islamic Republic government, a significant number of them are facing legal cases. Concurrently with the announcement of this citizen's conviction in Zanjan, a knowledgeable source reported to Voice of America that Hamidreza Najafi, a civil activist in the central province, has also been subjected to similar charges, and the Arak appeals court has sentenced him to eight months of custodial imprisonment in one of these cases.