Activist from Iran’s East Azerbaijan to Serve Three Months in Prison

An appeals court in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province upheld on October 9 the 91-day prison sentence for a civil activist over his involvement in nationwide protests last year.

Saleh Molaabbasi, who lives in the city of Ahar, was arrested in September 2022 and charged with "disseminating false information with the intent to incite public unrest."

Molaabbasi was subsequently transferred to the detention center of the Intelligence Department in Tabriz, the provincial capital.

While in custody, he went on a hunger strike to protest his prolonged detention and the lack of resolution in his case. 

In November, he was granted bail pending trial.

Molaabbasi was previously arrested in 2015 for participating in protests and received a 10-month prison sentence.

His latest sentencing is part of a wider crackdown on dissent by the Iranian authorities.

Since the eruption of the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement in September 2022, the government has arrested thousands of activists, journalists and ordinary citizens.