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Former President’s Daughter Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison In Iran
(CTN NEWS) – TEHRAN – According to her attorney, a court in Iran has sentenced the outspoken daughter of the late former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to five years in prison.
An advocate for women’s rights and former member of parliament, Faezeh Hashemi, 60, was detained in September after urging Iranians to participate in anti-government demonstrations.
Her alleged crime was “inciting rioters.”
Without going into greater detail, her attorney Neda Shams tweeted on Monday night that she had been sentenced “on the announced accusations at the initial stage.”
“Given that the current decision is not final, it is improper to remark on it. The client is still behind bars and is facing additional charges, “Added she.
Hashemi, a well-known opponent of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the clerical establishment, has spent several times behind bars.
She was found guilty of “propaganda against the system” in connection with her support for the massive protests that broke out after a contentious presidential election three years earlier, and she was sentenced to six months in prison in 2012.
In 2017, she received a second six-month term for “spreading lies against the courts.”
Hashemi was accused of “propaganda against the system” and “uttering blasphemies,” according to a statement made by Tehran’s prosecutor in July of last year.
“Faezeh Hashemí ha sido condenada a cinco años en prisión por su último caso”, afirmó este martes en Twitter Neda Shams, abogada de la hija del fallecido expresidente Akbar Hashemí Rafsanyaní, figura clave de la Revolución Islámica de 1979 en Irán.
▶️ https://t.co/wJdGDClxbw pic.twitter.com/tWuYPl0tru
— HCH Televisión Digital (@HCHTelevDigital) January 10, 2023
The media accused her of associating with members of the persecuted Bahai religious minority and disrespecting the third Shia Muslim Imam after she lobbied against the removal of the IRGC from Western sanctions lists.
One of tremoving the Islamic Republic was Hashemi’s father.
He was president from 1989 to 1997, and after his death in 2017, he continued to be a significant figure. He was seen as a traditionalist pragmatic who worked to strengthen ties with the West.
Hashemi is one of the thousands of individuals detained in connection with the protests in Iran against the religious establishment.
These protests began four months ago in Iran after a young woman died while being held by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, “improperly.”
Authorities have referred to them as “riots” and used deadly force to suppress them.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 519 protestors have died so far (HRANA). Following what the UN has criticized as “unfair trials based on forced confessions,” four further people have been put to death in Iran.
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