Father of Jailed Iranian Student Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

The Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced a 71-year-old man to five years in prison over his alleged "financial connection" with the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK or PMOI).

In April 2022, Mir Yousef Younesi’s son Ali, a former astronomy Olympiad student at Sharif University of Technology, was handed a 16-year prison sentence for allegedly being connected to MEK, a group considered a terrorist organization by the Islamic Republic.

His other son Reza said on social media on January 9 that his father’s prison sentence was issued during a court session his father was not allowed to attend.

The court also dismissed the objections raised by the defendant’s legal representative regarding the lack of evidence presented by the Ministry of Intelligence, he said, adding that the lawyer was given access to the case documents only two weeks ago.

Mir Yousef Younesi had been kept in pre-trial detention for more than a year. His detention was marked by multiple violations of the law and lack of transparency.

The family has denied the charges against him, saying that he was only an employee of a company engaged in routine business transactions. 

"They are well aware that he has no connection to that financial transaction, but they involved him in this case to exert revenge," Reza Younesi said.

He previously disclosed his father's pre-existing hearing issues and pain in one ear, and accused the authorities of preventing him from completing his treatment. 

Officials at Tehran’s Evin prison have repeatedly reneged on promises to allow Younesi to see a specialist doctor outside the facility. 

Both ears are now affected, significantly impacting the prisoner’s daily life.