Tehran Student Begins Prison Sentence for Peaceful Activism
A student at the University of Tehran was arrested by the Iranian
regime’s intelligence forces on Sunday and taken to the notorious Evin Prison to
begin her sentence for peaceful activism during last year’s protests.
Leila Hosseinzadeh, an anthropology student, had her sentence of
two and a half years in prison and a two-year foreign travel ban upheld by
the Tehran Province Appeals Court on June 24.
Hosseinzadeh, who served as the secretary of Tehran University
students’ central council, was arrested during the nationwide uprisings in 2018
but was released on bail.
She was previously sentenced to six years in prison and a two-year
ban on leaving the country by Branch 26 of the Court of Tehran on March 7,
2018.
Her trial began on October 22, 2018, and her revision hearing was
held on May 14. Then, on Monday, June 24, Branch 36 of Tehran Appeals Court
told Hosseinzadeh that she was sentenced to 30 months in prison on the charge
of “association and collusion against national security” and another year for
“propaganda against the state”. She is also prohibited from leaving the country
for two years after her prison sentence ends.
There were a particularly high number of students arrested and
prosecuted during the December 2017/January 2018 protests; something that even
Iranian regime officials are admitting.