Another Iranian Activist Re-Arrested after Being Granted "Amnesty"

August 3, 2023

1 min read

HRANA said that security forces raided the residence of Hasani-Rad's mother in May in an attempt to apprehend the activist. However, the operation did not succeed in capturing him.

Agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO) re-arrested Ali Asghar Hasani-Rad, a political activist who was released from prison earlier this year after being granted "amnesty."

The motives behind Hasani-Rad's re-arrest remain unclear, and there is no information regarding his whereabouts, according to the activist HRANA news agency.

HRANA said that security forces raided the residence of Hasani-Rad's mother in May in an attempt to apprehend the activist. However, the operation did not succeed in capturing him.

Hasani-Rad is said to have been hiding in the Caspian city of Nowshahr to evade detection by the authorities.

Hasani-Rad was first arrested in 2019 and sentenced to a total of 16 years and seven months in prison on charges of "gathering and collusion against the security of the country," "propaganda against the system" and "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic and its leadership."

He was also imposed a two-year travel ban and barred from engaging in politics, social networks and the media.

The activist was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on February 15 under a mass "amnesty" ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A growing number of activists and journalists released from prison have since been summoned and re-arrested by the authorities.

On August 2, lawyer Irfan Karamveisi wrote on his Instagram account that Meysam Dehbanzadeh, a protester arrested during last year’s nationwide demonstrations, has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges of "assembly and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the security of the country" and "forming a group with the aim of disrupting the security of the country."

He had previously been amnestied.

Karamveisi also disclosed that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court imposed a travel ban on Dehbanzadeh and barred him from joining political and social organizations and from residing in Tehran province and its neighboring regions.