{"id":688,"date":"2015-06-19T14:11:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T14:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.bashariyat.org\/?p=688"},"modified":"2019-05-05T21:55:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T21:55:04","slug":"child-rights-activists-mother-pleas-for-help-for-sons-ten-year-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.bashariyat.org\/?p=688","title":{"rendered":"Child Rights Activist\u2019s Mother Pleas for Help for Son\u2019s Ten-Year Prison Sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten months after his arrest, children\u2019s rights activist Omid Alishenas has been sentenced to ten years in prison for \u201cassembly and collusion and propaganda against the state,\u201d and \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mr. Alishenas\u2019 mother told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the family is in shock following the sentencing. \u201cThis sentence is unfair and cruel. Omid\u2019s activities should not have brought him 10 years in prison,\u201d she said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simin Eyvazzadeh told the Campaign that her son\u2019s lawyer has appealed the ruling, \u201cbut with this heavy sentence, we are really worried that his sentence would not be reduced too much at appeal.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey always told me not to disseminate information and that this would work in Omid\u2019s favor, but it resulted in ten years in prison for my son. I am not going to keep quiet anymore, and I ask everyone for help to change my son\u2019s heavy sentence. I want his release after ten months in detention,\u201d Ms. Eyvazzadeh added.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Security agents arrested Omid Alishenas, 32, a civil engineer who is a children\u2019s rights and civil activist, at his home in Tehran on September 4, 2014. He was held inside the IRGC\u2019s Ward 2-A for nearly nine months under \u201ctemporary detention\u201d orders, before being transferred to Evin Prison\u2019s Ward 8. His trial was held on March 5, 2015 at Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Courts under Judge Moghisseh, and his lawyer was served with the verdict on May 13, 2015.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOmid is so upset. He did not expect such a verdict at all. When he was first arrested, they kept saying he would be released in a couple of weeks, and then the investigative judge in the case once told Omid himself that his punishment would be a maximum of six months to one year in prison. Now he faces such a heavy sentence after nearly ten months in prison,\u201d Mr. Alishenas\u2019 mother told the Campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOmid was a children\u2019s rights activist. He taught the kids how to paint and he set up painting exhibitions for them. He had also visited families of several political prisoners or those who had been executed, and he was arrested based on these activities. On the day he was arrested, the agents confiscated his computer hard disk, his CD\u2019s, USB flash drives, and his cell phone, and based on information they extracted from them, they built up the charges against him,\u201d Ms Eyvazzadeh continued.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, because of the jokes they saw on his cell phone, they made up the charge of \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader\u201d for him. But these jokes exist on half of all Iranian cell phones! Omid did nothing to cause insult,\u201d said Omid Alishenas\u2019 mother.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simin Eyvazzadeh told the Campaign that the confiscated items have not been returned yet. \u201cWhen they were taking Omid\u2019s things, they said that we could have them back three days later. I have tried twice, and Omid\u2019s lawyer wrote a letter once, but they have responded that they would review our request,\u201d she said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Omid Alishenas and four other young individuals, Atena Daemi, Ali Nouri, Atena Feraghdani, and Aso Rostami, were separately interrogated in the same case. Atena Feraghdani\u2019s case was later reviewed independently, and she was eventually sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison. [Link: http:\/\/www.iranhumanrights.org\/2015\/06\/atena-faraghdani-2\/] Atena Daemi was sentenced to 14 years in prison. [Link:http:\/\/www.iranhumanrights.org\/2015\/06\/atena-daemi-3\/] The Campaign does not have any information about the cases of Ali Nouri and Aso Rostami.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten months after his arrest, children\u2019s rights activist Omid Alishenas has been sentenced to ten years in prison for \u201cassembly and collusion and propaganda against the state,\u201d and \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader.\u201d<\/p>

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