Sepideh Gholian sentenced to an additional fifteen months in prison
On 2 September 2023, Branch 1207 of Kachouie Criminal Complex 2 handed the woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian an additioanl fifteen-month prison sentence on the charge of “disturbing the public opinion” about a reporter at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). On 10 July 2023, the brother of woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced on social media that the court of appeals upheld the two-year prison sentence issued against her in May 2023 by branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on the charge of “insulting the supreme leader.” On 6 May 2023, the brother of woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced on social media that she had been sentenced to two years in prison, on the charge of “insulting the supreme leader”, by branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. On 15 March 2023, woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian was released from Evin prison. On 1 March 2022, Sepideh Gholian tested positive for COVID-19 in Evin prison after displaying various symptoms, including a high temperature, body aches, diarrhoea, kidney aches, and nausea, for the last 15 days. On 19 August 2021, Sepideh Gholian was granted a seven-day medical leave from Bushehr prison to receive appropriate treatment outside prison. On 13 August 2021, Sepideh Gholian’s lawyer announced on her twitter account that the woman human rights defender tested positive for COVID-19 in Bushehr prison on 6 August 2021. On 21 July 2021, woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced that she was physically assaulted by eight prisoners and received death threats in Bushehr prison on 19 July 2021. On 17th August 2020, Sepideh Gholian was acquitted of the additional charge of “disturbing the public order” for her participation in general demonstrations in November 2019. On 21 June 2020, labour rights defender Sepideh Gholian began serving a five year prison sentence on the charges of ‘assembly and collusion against national security’, after refusing to request a pardon from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. She was sentenced by Branch 36 of the Appeals Court in December 2019, along with nine other labour rights defenders.
Sepideh Gholian is a woman human rights defender and a freelance journalist, with her human rights work focusing primarily on labour rights. She has worked closely with the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex. Leaders of the union have long been persecuted and harassed by the authorities, with several members of the Board of Directors being tried with ‘propaganda against the State’ and ‘acting against national security’ since 2009.
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- 6 September 2023 : Sepideh Gholian sentenced to an additional fifteen months in prison
- 14 July 2023 : Sepideh Gholian’s two-year prison sentence confirmed and a dormant case reopened against her
- 17 May 2023 : Sepideh Gholian sentenced to two years in prison for chanting a slogan against the Supreme Leader
- 21 March 2023 : Sepideh Gholian rearrested violently four hours after being released from prison
- 2 March 2022 : Sepideh Gholian denied medical furlough after contracting COVID-19
- 19 August 2021 : Sepideh Gholian granted seven-day medical leave
- 18 August 2021 : Sepideh Gholian denied medical leave after contracting COVID-19
- 30 July 2021 : Attacks and death threats against woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian after transfer
- 10 March 2021 : Sepideh Gholian transferred to Bushehr Prison
- 21 August 2020 : Sepideh Gholian acquitted of additional charge
- 26 June 2020 : Labour rights defender Sepideh Gholian imprisoned after refusing to request a pardon from the Supreme Leader
On 2 September 2023, Branch 1207 of Kachouie Criminal Complex 2 handed the woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian an additioanl fifteen-month prison sentence on the charge of “disturbing the public opinion” about a reporter at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The IRIB’s reporter filed a lawsuit against the woman human rights defender in branch 24 of the Revolutionary Court and she was charged with “anti-Islamic Republic regime propaganda” for publishing news about Iranian-Arab prisoners and “disseminating fake news” for exposing the IRIB reporter who had interrogated her while she was detained. The case followed a lawsuit filed by Sepideh Gholian on 26 December 2019 against the IRIB for televising misinformation and defamatory content against her. However, the IRIB was acquitted soon after the case was filed. The reporter in question made a documentary based on the forced confessions given by Sepideh Gholian while she was in detention in 2019.
The ongoing legal actions against the woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian occur in the context of an escalation of attacks, human rights abuses and criminalisation against human rights defenders in reprisal for their human rights work in Iran. According to the social media of one of Sepideh Gholian’s family members, the woman human rights defender is still to face additional charges of “unveiling during the court session and promotion of immorality and corruption by insisting on this criminal act.”
On 10 July 2023, the brother of woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced on social media that the court of appeals upheld the two-year prison sentence issued against her in May 2023 by branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on the charge of “insulting the supreme leader.” This verdict entails an additional punishment of a two-year ban from using smartphones, a two-year ban from living in Tehran or neighbouring provinces, and a two-year ban from membership in social or political groups.
The charge against Sepideh Gholian was based on a ten-second video which features the woman human rights defender chanting an “anti-tyranny” slogan in front of Evin prison immediately after her release on 15 March 2023 after three years of unjust imprisonment. The woman human rights defender was violently re-arrested without being shown an arrest warrant in Arak, Markazi province, a few hours after her release when she was on her way to Dezful, Khozestan province together with her family.
The continous prosecution of the woman human rights defender is occurring while she is also being summoned to the Kachouie Court in Tehran to defend herself against the charges of “disturbing the public opinion via spreading misinformation” and “propaganda against state” in social media on 19 July 2023. The woman human rights defender has announced she will refuse to be present before the court as she believes the charges have been brought against her in utter violation of due process and fair trial rights and based on her human rights work.
This charge has been built on a lawsuit being brought by a reporter at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). In an IRIB documentary called “The Burnt Plan” which aired on 19 January 2019, the IRIB used footage of confessions made by Sepideh Gholian while she was in detention. The video posited that Sepideh Gholian and other activists were connected to the Trump administration, communist groups and the Iranian diaspora who, it alleged, were attempting to overthrow the Iranian regime. The woman human rights defender replied to the claims made in the documentary on Twitter, saying that the cofessions were made under torture and this defamation was in itself proof of further torture against her. The day after the documentary aired, Sepideh Gholian’s family home was raided by officers of the Security Forces.
On 26 December 2019, Sepideh Gholian filed a lawsuit against the IRIB for televising misinformation and defamatory content against her. However, the IRIB was acquitted soon after the case was filed. Subsequently, the IRIB’s reporter filed a lawsuit against her in branch 24 of the Revolutionary Court and she was charged with “anti-Islamic Republic regime propaganda” for publishing news about Iranian-Arab prisoners and “disseminating fake news” for exposing the IRIB reporter who had interrogated her while she was detained.
On 9 January 2019, Sepideh Gholian published a detailed account on social media about her experience and the experiences of the other labour activists she was arrested with, whilst in the custody of the police and the Ministry of Intelligence in the Khuzestan province. She detailed the torture and daily interrogations they were subjected to, with interrogations lasting from the morning until the early hours of the next day. Sepideh Golian was also regularly subjected to sexual insults: she was called a ‘whore’ and accused of having sexual relationships with some members of the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union with which she has worked closely as a freelance journalist. She was further threatened that her family would be informed of her actions and that she may then be the victim of an “honour killing”.
Front Line Defenders condemns the contiuous prosecution of Sepideh Gholian in the context of a wide crackdown on human rights defenders since the nation-wide protests broke out in Iran in September 2022 where hundreds of human rights defenders have been arrested, charged and subjected to hefty prison sentences without the adherence to due process.
Front Line Defenders is particularly concerned by the breach of international human rights law in Iran’s treatment of human rights defenders in detention. It believes that repeated legal actions against human rights defenders are being instrumentalised by Iranian officials to silence human rights defenders in reprisal against their legitimate and peaceful human rights work in Iran.
On 6 May 2023, the brother of woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced on social media that she had been sentenced to two years in prison, on the charge of “insulting the supreme leader”, by branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Sepideh Gholian is a woman human rights defender and freelance journalist, with her human rights work focusing primarily on labour rights. She has worked closely with the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex. She has been reporting on the situation of women prisoners including by publishing illustrations and prison diaries.
On 6 May 2023, Sepideh Gholian was sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of “insulting the supreme leader” by branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, following her re-arrest on 15 March 2023. The woman human rights defender was violently re-arrested in Arak, Markazi province, a few hours after her release from Evin prison where she had been detained for three years. She was on her way to Dezful, Khozestan province together with her family, when she was re-arrested without being shown an arrest warrant. The mobile devices of her family members were also confiscated.
Sepideh Gholian was released from Evin prison in March 2023 after serving three years of her five-year sentence. Her release came after the ratification of a law on 11 May 2020 which reduced prison sentences for political prisoners who served one third of their terms. The woman human rights defender was made eligible for release under this law. Sepideh Gholian began serving this sentence in Qarchak prison on 21 June 2020, the charges for which date back to 2018. She was transferred several times to other prisons, including Bushehr Prison in the south of Iran on 10 March 2021, more than 600km from Dezful where Sepideh Gholian's parents live.
Sepideh Gholian previously appeared before a judge in the courthouse of Evin prison on 16 June 2020, where she was instructed to write a letter to the Supreme Leader requesting a pardon, and was told that they would “see what they could do for her”. She was told that if she did not request a pardon, she would begin serving her five-year sentence in Qarchak prison. Sepideh Gholian insisted on her innocence and dismissed the offer, surrendering herself to the authorities on 21 June 2020 to serve her sentence.
Front Line Defenders condemns the repeated prosecutions of Sepideh Gholian as part of a wider crackdown on human rights defenders in the context of the protests in Iran where, since September 2022, hundreds of human rights defenders have been arrested, charged and subjected to hefty prison sentences without adherence to due process or fair trial rights.
Front Line Defenders is particularly concerned by the breach of international human rights law related to Iran’s treatment of human rights defenders in detention. It believes that the woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian is being detained as a result of her legitimate and non-violent human rights work, especially with regard to her advocacy for labour rights and prisoners’ rights in Iran.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Iran to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Sepideh Gholian and all human rights defenders detained in the context of the protests ongoing since September 2022;
- Drop the conviction against Sepideh Gholian as Front Line Defenders believes she has been targeted solely as a result of her legitimate human rights work;
- Ensure that the treatment of Sepideh Gholian, while in detention, adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment’, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988;
- Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Iran, especially in the context of the ongoing protests, and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisal and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
On 15 March 2023, woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian was released from Evin prison. She was serving the third year of her five-year sentence. Since 4 February 2023, as part of a general amnesty announced by the Iranian judiciary on the occasion of 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, hundreds of prisoners, including human rights defenders, have been released from prison.
On 15 March 2023, Sepideh Gholian was violently rearrested in Arak, Markazi province a few hours after her release from Evin prison. The woman human rights defender was on her way to Dezful, Khozestan province together with her family, when she was rearrested violently without being shown an arrest warrant and the mobile devices of her family members were confiscated.
On 1 March 2022, Sepideh Gholian tested positive for COVID-19 in Evin prison after displaying various symptoms, including a high temperature, body aches, diarrhoea, kidney aches, and nausea, for the last 15 days. The family of the woman human rights defender announced that Sepideh Gholian has been facing gastrointestinal complications in the last two weeks, but the prison authorities have yet to respond to their request for a medical furlough. The woman human rights defender has been transferred to the quarantine ward of Evin prison without receiving appropriate medical treatment.
On 19 August 2021, Sepideh Gholian was granted a seven-day medical leave from Bushehr prison.
The woman human rights defender tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in August and had requested furlough to be able to receive appropriate treatment outside prison.
On 13 August 2021, Sepideh Gholian’s lawyer announced on his twitter account that the woman human rights defender tested positive for COVID-19 in Bushehr prison on 6 August 2021. However, her request for a medical furlough has remained unanswered by the prison’s authorities to date.
In late July 2021, Sepideh Gholian was physically assaulted by eight prisoners and received death threats in Bushehr prison. The woman human rights defender’s request for the investigation into the attack and death threats against her has not been responded to by the prison’s authorities yet either.
On 21 July 2021, woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian announced that she was physically assaulted by eight prisoners and received death threats in Bushehr prison on 19 July 2021. The prison security guards were present during the incident, however, they refused to intervene. The woman human rights defender spent the night of the 19 July in the yard of the prison in high temperatures for fear of the death threats. Consequently, she made a request for the CCTV camera of the ward to be checked and to investigate the attack and death threats against her, which has not been responded to by the prison’s authorities yet.
On 10 March 2021, woman labour rights defender Sepideh Gholian was transferred without explanation from the women's ward of Evin Prison to Bushehr Prison in the south of Iran. She announced that before her transfer, the security guard took her out of the car in one of the main squares in Tehran and made her walk around while she was handcuffed and with shackles on her feet, which was seen as an attempt to humiliate the woman human rights defender.
Bushehr Prison is located more than 600km from Dezful, where Sepideh Gholian's parents live. The woman human rights defender has requested to be transferred to Sepidar prison in Ahvaz where she can have more convenient visits with her family.
In the late hours of 10 March 2021, woman labour rights defender Sepideh Gholian was transferred without explanation from the women's ward of Evin Prison to Bushehr Prison in the south of Iran. Bushehr Prison is located more than 600km from Dezful, where Sepideh Gholian's parents live.
The woman human rights defender is currently serving a five year prison sentence and had been detained in Evin Prison since July 2021, prior to the recent transfer.
On 17 August 2020, Sepideh Gholian was acquitted of the additional charge of “disturbing the public order” for her participation in general demonstrations in November 2019.
The labour rights defender is currently serving a five year sentence in Evin prison on charges dating back to 2018.
On 21 June 2020, labour rights defender Sepideh Gholian began serving a five year prison sentence on the charges of ‘assembly and collusion against national security’, after refusing to request a pardon from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. She was sentenced by Branch 36 of the Appeals Court in December 2019, along with nine other labour rights defenders. She remains the only one who has not been granted amnesty after requesting a pardon.
Sepideh Gholian is a woman human rights defender and a freelance journalist, with her human rights work focusing primarily on labour rights. She has worked closely with the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex. Leaders of the union have long been persecuted and harassed by the authorities, with several members of the Board of Directors being tried with ‘propaganda against the State’ and ‘acting against national security’ since 2009.
On 21 June 2020, Sepideh Gholian began serving a five year sentence in Qarchak prison, the charges for which date back to 2018. On 16 June, the defender had appeared before a judge in the courthouse of Evin prison, and was instructed to write a letter to the Supreme Leader, requesting a pardon, and they would “see what they could do for her”. She was told that if she did not request pardon, she would begin serving her five year sentence that Sunday in Qarchak prison. Sepideh Gholian insisted on her innocence and dismissed the offer, surrendering herself to the authorities on 21 June to serve her sentence. Since May 2020, the labour rights defenders that Sepideh Gholian was initially detained with in 2018, have all been granted amnesty.
On 18 November 2018, Sepideh Gholian was arrested, along with a group of labour rights activists, whilst reporting on a protest organized by the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company. She was released on bail in December 2018.
On 9 January 2019, Sepideh Gholian published a detailed account on social media about her experience and the experiences of the other labour activists she was arrested with, whilst in the custody of the police and the ministry of intelligence in the cities of Shush and Ahvaz. She detailed the torture and daily interrogations they were subjected to, the interrogations lasting from the morning until the early hours of the next. Sepideh Golian was regularly subjected to sexual insults too, called a ‘whore’, accused of having sexual relationships with some of the members of the Syndicate, and threatened to make sure that her family are informed of her actions, threatening that she may then be killed for ‘honour’.
A little over a week later, on 19 January, a documentary was aired on the state broadcaster the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), on its news programme “The Burnt Plan”. The documentary, using video footage of confessions made by the defender while in detention, posited that Sepideh Gholian and other activists were connected to the Trump administration, communist groups and the Iranian diaspora who, it alleged, are attempting to overthrow the Iranian regime. The defender replied to the claims made in the programme on Twitter, saying that this defamation was in itself proof of further torture against her. The day after the documentary was broadcast, Sepideh Gholian’s family home was raided by officers of the Security Forces. She and her brother were physically assaulted and then arrested, and the officers threatened the father that his children would be killed. Her brother was released soon after being detained, whilst Sepideh Gholian was held in arbitrary detention.
On 7 September 2019, Sepideh Gholian was initially sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in connection to her involvement with the Haft-Tapeh Syndicate and participation in the protest in 2018. She was sentenced on charges of ‘assembly and collusion to act against national security’, ‘membership in an illegal group of Gam’, an online publication, ‘propaganda against the state’, and ‘publishing false news’.
On 26 October 2019, she was released on bail after going on hunger strike to protest the unbearable conditions in Qarchak prison. Gholian was subsequently rearrested during protests in Iran in November 2019. Although she was released on bail after one day, she was charged with ‘acting against national security by planing and colluding’ and ‘disrupting the public order’.
On 14 December 2019, Sepideh Gholian’s original sentence of 19 and a half years was reduced to five years’ imprisonment by Branch 36 of the Appeals Court. However, she still faces the charges from November 2019.
On 26 December 2019, Sepideh Gholian filed a lawsuit against IRIB for televising misinformation and defamatory content against her, however the IRIB was acquitted soon after the case was filed. Subsequently, IRIB filed a lawsuit against her in the 24 Branch of the Revolutionary Court and she was charged with ‘anti-Islamic Republic regime propaganda’ for publishing news about Iranian-Arab prisoners and ‘disseminating fake news’ for exposing the IRIB reporter who had interrogated her while she was detained. The first hearing for these charges took place on 9 February, the next hearing is yet to be scheduled.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned by the arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, physical assault and defamation attempts against Sepideh Gholian. It is particularly concerned by the latest charges brought against the defender, seemingly in reprisal for her attempts to hold IRIB to account for its defamation of her character on national television. Front Line Defenders believes that Sepideh Gholian has been targeted solely as a result of her peaceful and legitimate human rights work in defense of labour rights and exercising freedom of expression in Iran.
