{"id":1669,"date":"2020-10-01T14:26:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1669"},"modified":"2020-10-01T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T14:26:09","slug":"new-charges-thrown-at-political-prisoners-to-keep-them-behind-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1669","title":{"rendered":"New Charges Thrown at Political Prisoners to Keep Them Behind Bars"},"content":{"rendered":"

State Responds to Growing Societal Discontent with Intensified Efforts to Silence All Dissent<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rushed Convictions Show Judiciary Willing to Do Bidding of Intelligence Forces<\/p><\/div>\n

October 1, 2020\u2014In a blatant move to keep political prisoners in Iran behind bars despite completing their sentences, judicial authorities in Iran are increasingly issuing new charges and pushing through rushed convictions without any semblance of due process, just as a growing number of political prisoners are nearing release.<\/p>\n

\u201cSham new convictions aimed at keeping political prisoners perpetually locked up shows the subservient role of the judiciary in Iran, which serves as the handmaiden for the security establishment,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/p>\n

CHRI calls on the judiciary to obey Iranian law by ensuring full due process rights in all prosecutions, which would not only mean an immediate review of the many new convictions for political prisoners that have been hurriedly pushed through for purely political purposes, but also a release of all political prisoners.<\/p>\n

CHRI also urges the international community to forcefully condemn these new convictions and the continued imprisonment of individuals in Iran for their views and peaceful activities.<\/p>\n

Suppression of Leading Voices of Dissent Intensifies as Protest Deepens in Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n

The imprisonment of activists, lawyers, journalists and other human rights defenders, under increasingly harsh sentences that include long prison terms and often lashes, has intensified in Iran as dissent and protest have grown over the last few years.<\/p>\n

These individuals\u2014defense attorneys, political and women\u2019s activists, labor leaders and reporters\u2014are widely respected amongst Iranian society and their voices carry weight. Their ability to articulate societal demands for basic civil and political rights and their willingness to call out the authorities on rights violations have made them a target for a state determined to stamp out dissent.<\/p>\n

Dissent and peaceful protest has been an enduring feature of the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979. Despite the risk of arrest and imprisonment, peaceful activism, student protests, campaigns for women\u2019s rights, demonstrations against disputed election results and near continuous labor protests have gone on over the last four decades.<\/p>\n

Yet over the last few years, dissent and protest have begun to shift in Iran, reflecting deeper societal discontent with the country\u2019s economic and political systems. In December 2017, serious\u00a0unrest<\/a>\u00a0broke out that encompassed hundreds of cities and towns across the country\u2014including areas that had been pillars of support for the Islamic Republic\u2014and sporadic protests took place through much of 2018, until widespread rage at economic\u00a0 mismanagement, corruption and political repression erupted into even larger nation-wide protests in\u00a0November 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The violence of the state\u2019s response to the November 2019 protests\u2014indiscriminate firing of live ammunition into crowds of civilians which resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands arrested in the span of roughly a week\u2014was unprecedented, suggesting a state that had come to decide it would crush all protest at any cost.<\/p>\n

The authorities\u2019 determination to keep prominent activists and human rights defenders behind bars should be seen in this context, as part and parcel of a broader state drive to silence dissent in Iran that involves multiple actions:<\/p>\n