Iranian Entrepreneur and Activist Sentenced to Suspended Prison Term

The Revolutionary Court of central Arak city has sentenced Hamidreza Najafi, an entrepreneur and civil activist, to over four years of a suspended prison sentence, IranWire reports. 

Najafi, who was apprehended in Arak on September 17, coinciding with the anniversary of nationwide protests in Iran, was released on bail pending the issuance of the verdict. 

He faced charges in the Revolutionary Court of Arak for "propaganda activities against the system and incitement of people to war." 

As a result, he has been sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment.

Additionally, he has received a 15-month prison sentence in another case heard in the Arak Criminal Court. 

In this instance, the charge against him is "publishing falsehoods," which appears to be related to videos and posts published by Najafi wherein he criticized the general policies of the Islamic Republic over the past year.

Hamidreza Najafi, who has operated a car design company since 2010, has been summoned to the prosecutor's office several times in recent months.

According to an informed source who spoke to IranWire, security agencies are targeting Najafi because of his critical videos on social media, in which he has criticized the government's economic and social policies.

In one video, Najafi spoke about the power outage crisis that has affected industrial centers in Iran. He said that the "government's lack of understanding of productivity has led to the crisis."

The source said that the interrogator in the case asked Najafi to commit to not using social media so that a new case would not be filed against him.