Iran: Human rights activist Narges Mohammadi sentenced to prison again

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Narges Mohammadi: The journalist and human rights activist was sentenced to 30 months in prison and 80 lashes

Photo: Vahid Salemi / AP

The Iranian regime opponent Narges Mohammadi spent eight years in prison.

She was released early in October.

Now she is again targeted by the authorities.

According to her lawyer, the journalist and human rights activist was sentenced to 30 months in prison and 80 lashes.

For the AFP news agency, lawyer Mahmud Behsadi-Rad confirmed reports in the Iranian media that Mohammadi had been convicted of “propaganda against the Iranian political system”, “defamation” and “rebellion against the prison administration”.

According to the newspaper Etemad, the allegations against Mohammadi relate, among other things, to a statement she allegedly made against the death penalty.

She is also said to have made unfounded allegations of "torture and ill-treatment" and organized a sit-in while she was in prison in Evin Prison in Tehran

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Mohammadi was "forcibly" taken from Evin Prison to northwest Iran's Zanjan Detention Center while she was in custody.

Her lawyer said Mohammadi had appealed against her transfer, but it was dismissed.

Mohammadi had made torture allegations against the prison

In addition, Mohammadi had lodged a complaint against her treatment in Evin Prison - according to "Etemad" she said she was "beaten and mistreated" in the facility.

"Instead of examining your complaint, the judiciary has opened another case against my client," criticized Behsadi-Rad.

According to the lawyer, given the "circumstances", Mohammadi does not want to appeal her recent conviction.

He did not provide any further details.

The EU described the renewed conviction of Mohammadi as "worrying".

The case of the human rights activist must be "examined" in accordance with "respect for international humanitarian law" and in consideration of Mohammadi's deteriorating health, a spokesman said.

49-year-old Mohammadi is known in Iran for her work against the death penalty.

The former spokeswoman for the Iranian Center for Human Rights Defenders was arrested in May 2015 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for "establishing an illegal organization".

She was released last year after her sentence was reduced.

asc / AFP