IRAN NEWS))))))

Maryam Abbasi Nikou is charged with “insulting the Prophet,” which is punishable by the death penalty. Maryam Abbassi Nikou is from Shahinshahr, in the central province of Isfahan. Agents of the Department of Intelligence raided her residence at 11 pm on June 26, 2023. They were looking for her daughter who was not home at the time. Instead, they brutalized her parents and arrested and took away her mother. The agents said Ms. Abbassi Nikou was to attend a simple questioning session and return home. Maryam Abbassi Nikou was detained at the Department of Intelligence and eventually transferred to Dowlatabad Prison. Her case has been referred to the Third Branch of the Interrogation Court of Shahinshahr. In the preliminary stage of investigations, Ms. Nikou has not been allowed to have a lawyer of her own choice and the court appointed her a lawyer. https://tinyurl.com/6ccmvwvp

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In a recent development, Seyyed Kazem Moussavi, the General Director of the Justice Department in Fars Province in Iran announced the issuance of verdicts against individuals who had attacked a woman engaged in “promoting virtue” within a recreational garden in Shiraz, the state-run Sharqdaily.com reported on August 17, 2023. Moussavi revealed that three verdicts had been rendered in relation to the incident at Narenjestan-e Qavam. These penalties encompassed internal exile, flogging, and substantial fines.

In a separate but related development, a man and two women who defied compulsory Hijab regulations in the city of Arak have faced legal consequences. They were each sentenced to one year of imprisonment, 74 lashes, and fines following complaints lodged by “promoters of virtue.” https://tinyurl.com/229ky555

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Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in Iran sentenced Tahereh Naghiee, the Secretary General of the Iranian Teachers’ Organization, to 6 months in prison, payment of fines, a ban on leaving the country, and other social deprivations. Ms. Naghiee is charged with “propaganda against the state.” 

Kurdish journalist, Nazila Maroofian, was violently arrested on Monday, August 14, and transferred to Qarchak Prison, where she went on a dry hunger strike. She had referred to the Police Station to receive her cell phone when one of the officers punched her in the head. Her mother who was accompanying Nazila, objected to police action, but the police said, “We want to kill her just like we killed Mahsa Amini.”

Two students of architectural engineering, Zarian and Zilan Malaii who are sisters, were arrested at their home in Sanandaj by security forces, on Sunday, August 13.

Donya Hosseini called her family on Tuesday, August 15, and informed them that she had been transferred to the Evin Prison.

The Branch 107 of the Criminal Court 2 of Khorramabad sentenced masoumeh Soleimani 36 years old and a wrestling coach and referee for women to one year in prison. Massoumeh Soleimani was arrested in Khorramabad on May 10, of this year, on the charge of “inciting violence in cyberspace.” She was released on bail on May 14 from the detention center of the Intelligence Department.

Hanieh Daemi, former political prisoner Atena Daemi's sister, has also been summoned through a phone call on August 14 to the Intelligence Police. It is not clear why she was summoned. https://tinyurl.com/4rbfnm3z