Prison and flogging: Khamenei regime fears Iranian street revolution

In an attempt to quell the embers of the flaming revolution, the Iranian regime is practicing brutal methods to intimidate dissident activists and citizens through “prison and flogging” punishments. 

Iran has witnessed in recent weeks dozens of prison sentences and floggings against activists. An Iranian court issued a sentence of 10 years in prison for the former employee of the British Council in Tehran, Aras Amiri.

The Iranian judiciary also sentenced Mohammad Taghi Falahi, the secretary general of the Teachers’ Union in Tehran, to eight months in prison, in addition to 10 lashes, on charges of participating in the protest rally on Teacher's Day on May 2.

Teachers had gathered on May 2 on the occasion of National Teacher's Day in several cities, and they organized a gathering in Tehran in front of the Iranian parliament building; a number of them were arrested.

The Iranian authorities issued a sentence of six years and 74 lashes for labor activist Nasrin Javadi. They also denied her use of a smartphone and banned her from membership in political parties and social bodies. This came following her participation in the May Day rally, according to labor activist Jamal Amali.

In March, an Iranian court sentenced lawyer and human rights activist Nisrin Sotoudeh to 38 years and 148 lashes for conspiring against the regime, in addition to two years for insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Ilam Criminal Court in southwestern Iran sentenced 15 workers to nine years in prison and 1,100 lashes for taking part in a protest rally in April.

A number of workers, labor activists and trade unionists are also being held pending cases set up by the authorities on the basis of their participation in successive labor protests against workers' poor working conditions, delayed salaries, and the lack of a social and health safety net.

The fate of the activists Raham Yeganeh, Farid Lotfabadi and Hirad Pirbadaqi remains unknown about three weeks after their arrest, and so far no information or news about their legal or health conditions has been available.

On August 3, Iranian police arrested Yeganeh, Lotfabadi and Pirbadaqi, who appeared before the Revolutionary Court in Tehran along with the families of the detained workers.

A number of activists are also facing slow death and assassination through negligence by the mullahs, where five environmental activists detained in Tehran's Evin prison have gone on hunger strike since the beginning of August to protest their temporary detention for more than 18 months.

Houman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani and Niloufar Bayani began their hunger strike last Saturday and were joined by Amirhossein Khaleghi and Taher Ghadirian in protest against what they called a “rights isthmus”, where they have remained in temporary detention for more than 600 days.

Ghadirian’s mother said on Tuesday that she was worried about her son's condition and him facing death and assassination through neglect. “He has lost his nerves for 19 months, and he says he can hardly see anything,” she said.

“Taher is now very ill because of hypothyroidism,” she added, according to INSAF News. “They prevented him from taking his medication for two months and said they would take him for tests on September 1 and then give him the medicine. He now appears to be suffering from hypothyroidism.”

Environmental activists Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Houman Jokar and Morad Tahbaz have been in prison for a year and a half, having been convicted of espionage.

It is not only activists who are imprisoned and flogged. Artists in Iran are also part of the repression by the mullahs. Last July, Kurdish singer Peyman Mirzazadeh was sentenced to two years and 100 lashes after being convicted of insulting Islamic sanctities and “spreading propaganda against the regime” by singing songs in support of opposition groups.

In March, an Iranian court sentenced prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and women's rights activist Nisrin Sotoudeh to 33.5 years and 148 lashes for her human rights activities.

In July, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced Mojgan Keshavarz, Yasaman Aryani and Monireh Arabshahi to a total of 55 years and six months in prison.

The charges against these three women in the indictment include “encouraging and providing the causes of corruption and prostitution, assembly and collusion to harm the security of the country, and propaganda against the regime.”

Iranian affairs expert Dr. Mohammad Benaiah said the Iranian regime is trying to send strong and decisive messages to all activists and movement leaders within Iran that prison and death awaits everyone in case of revolution against the regime.

Benaiah that the authorities are confronting the Iranian street revolution by arresting leaders and activists in an attempt to quell any revolution that could erupt in light of the rising anger of all components and classes of the Iranian people against the regime.

Imprisonment, flogging, murder and assassinations will not prevent the movements and revolution in the Iranian street, Benaiah said, adding that these actions may precipitate the fall of the regime, as happened in the late days of the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.