Iranian Activist's Court Cancelled As She Refuses Hijab
Prominent Iranian activist and political prisoner Sepideh Qolian's court session was cancelled as she defied to wear the mandatory hijab.
Prominent Iranian activist and political prisoner Sepideh Qolian's court session was cancelled as she defied to wear the mandatory hijab.
Qolian, a prominent civil and labor activist was scheduled to appear in a public court session on Wednesday, but the proceedings were postponed due to her refusal to wear a veil and abide by mandatory hijab rules.
The court session, which was expected to be held openly, faced delays as Qolian staunchly stood her ground on her beliefs.
Qolian became famous when as a journalist she covered long labor strikes at the Haft=Tappeh sugar factory in 2017-2018. She was arrested and jailed for her advocacy in favor of workers' demands.
According to a report by the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), the court session, despite being attended by the judge, the prosecutor, and the plaintiff's attorneys, could not proceed.
In a letter penned from Evin Prison a day before the court date, Qolian revealed her decision to participate in the public trial and represent herself, despite previously declaring the trial a sham.
In 2019, during her detention at Qarchak Prison, she witnessed her own confessions being broadcasted on state television. She identified the TV presenter as Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, who is a regime mouthpiece , as the same female interrogator referred to as Ms. Askari during her interrogations. Her revelation led to Zabihpour suing Qolian.
Her passion for activism did not wane even after completing her four-year prison term, as she was released in March. However, immediately following her release, Qolian was arrested again for publicly chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while not wearing hijab. She received another two-year prison sentence.
Ahmad Alirezabeigi, representing Tabriz in the parliament, told Shargh daily Tuesday that his second court session was held Monday on charges of "spreading lies,” a legal term in the Islamic Republic similar to libel.
He added that he has evidence on the bribery case and had argued that his trial should be held publicly with the presence of a jury because the current court – which handles cases related to state officials -- does not have the jurisdiction to handle this case.
However, he stated that apparently his explanation was not accepted, and the court issued the verdict. If the one-year prison sentence is upheld by the court of appeals, he must immediately go to prison.
Alirezabeigi revealed in late April that over 70 SUVs were offered to lawmakers at a lower price by the industry ministry ahead of their debate on a motion last December to impeach former industry minister Reza Fatemi-Amin. Forty lawmakers had demanded his impeachment for “inadequate performance” including failure to control rising prices for domestically produced vehicles, their low quality, preventing competitive imports, and corruption in the industry.
In mid-June, he revealed more information about the bribery case, saying contracts had been finalized for the transfer of "300 vehicles," of which 147 were accounted for but the whereabouts of 153 vehicles were still unknown, calling on the public prosecutor to investigate and determine what has happened.
“Most of the 147 delivered vehicles have been handed over to unknown individuals who are apparently connected to members of the parliament," he added.
More than 200 members of parliament sent text messages to the public or told the media that they were never involved in the scheme and did not benefit from it. The media published a list of others who have not denied receiving the SUVs. These include both supporters of Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and hardliner Paydari Front lawmakers.
The whistleblower MP, who was also banned from speaking during parliamentary sessions in June, was indicted for “making a claim without evidence” in May, a ruling that he rejected saying the parliament and its presiding board have violated the law.
The regime’s conduct is growing more and more opaque since hardliners won a big majority in managed elections in 2020 and President Ebrahim Raisi was elected in 2021 in a similarly engineered vote.
Prosecutions such as that of Alirezabeigi are taking place while former officials connected to powerful insiders who have been jailed for their involvement in colossal embezzlement or even criminal cases are being freed without serving their time.
On Tuesday, judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi announced that Hossein Fereydoun -- the brother of former president Hassan Rouhani – and Hadi Razavi – the son-in-law of former labor minister Mohammad Shariatmadari – were released from prison.
Razavi, sentenced to 20 years for paying bribes to managers of Iran’s Sarmayeh Bank, had started his sentence in 2019. Fereydoun was sentenced to five years in 2019 but rarely served his sentence as he was on long furloughs due to “medical concerns.”
Referring to Fereydoun, Setayeshi said, "We cannot keep someone if he has a medical problem." He made the comment despite the fact that a lot of Iranians have died or are suffering in prison due to the authorities’ deliberate denial of medical care.
Late in June, the judiciary announced its former deputy Akbar Tabari was released from prison after serving just 45 months of a 31-year prison term after posting a bail of 3 trillion rials ($6 million). Before being arrested in July 2019, Akbar Tabari held senior financial and executive positions within the Iranian judiciary for nearly 20 years.
Earlier in June, state media also announced the release of Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Mohammad-Ali Najafi, a former Tehran mayor and minister of education who had confessed to the murder of his wife Mitra Ostad in 2019.
