Iranian Azeri Activist Ebrahimi Starts Prison Sentence

After facing intensifying pressure from Iranian security agencies, civil activist Mukhtar Ebrahimi surrendered to the authorities on January 22 to begin serving a one-year prison sentence.

The Azeri activist was subsequently transferred to Maragheh prison, in East Azerbaijan province, to start serving his prison term.

According to information obtained by IranWire, Ebrahimi’s office was sealed by security forces on January 21 as a means of exerting additional pressure on the activist.

Ebrahimi, a political science graduate and writer, had been initially arrested in the city of Maragheh on August 26, 2020. 

He was temporarily released on bail after spending more than a month in detention. 

In February 2021, the Maragheh Revolutionary Court  sentenced him to 10 years in prison on charges of "forming a faction and group against the Islamic Republic" and "being a member of anti-revolutionary channels and groups." 

In June 2023, the Court of Appeal of East Azerbaijan reduced the sentence to one year.