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The 21-year prison sentence of Zhina Modares Gorji has been reduced to 28 months.

06:22 - 5/10/2024

The 21-year prison sentence of Zhina Modares Gorji has been reduced to 28 months.

According to reports received by the Hana Human Rights Organization, the 21-year prison sentence of Zhina Modares Gorji, a women’s rights activist from Sanandaj, has been reduced to 28 months by the appeals court of the city.

Ms. Modares Gorji has been acquitted of the charge of “collaborating with a hostile government” and sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime” and 16 months for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime.” The final verdict was delivered to her lawyer on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding multiple offenses, the most severe sentence—16 months—will be enforced.

Previously, Zhina Modares Gorji was sentenced by the First Branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mohammad Karami, to 10 years in prison for “forming an illegal group with the aim of overthrowing the regime,” 10 years for “collaborating with hostile groups and governments,” and one year for “propaganda against the regime.” Of this, 10 years of imprisonment and exile to Hamedan prison were enforceable.

The accusations against Ms. Modares Gorji included “establishing the Zhivano Association with a feminist ideology aimed at overthrowing the regime, actively participating in protests, chanting slogans against the system, contacting anti-revolutionary elements, attending international conferences and workshops, spreading content on social media, and giving interviews to foreign media to paint a negative image of the country and destabilize society following Mahsa Amini’s death.”

Additionally, the First Branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court declared that the charge of “spreading false information and inciting people to violent acts” should be addressed by the Sanandaj Criminal Court 2.

Ms. Modares Gorji was initially arrested on Monday, April 10, 2023, by security forces, and on May 10, 2023, she was transferred from solitary confinement in the Juvenile Correctional Center to the general ward of Sanandaj Prison. She was released on bail of 500 million tomans on Monday, July 3, 2023.

She had previously been arrested on September 30, 2022, by security forces and transferred to the Juvenile Correctional Center in Sanandaj. She was temporarily released on bail of 100 million tomans on November 3, 2022.