The reform activist had been arrested for “inciting rioters” in the protests that have shaken the country since the death of Mahsa Amini
Iranian reformist activist Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, daughter of one of the founders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been sentenced to five years in prison, her lawyer said Tuesday.
“Faezeh Hashemi has been sentenced to five years in prison for her latest case,” Neda Shams, a lawyer for the daughter of the late former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said on Twitter.
Shams stated that the sentence has been imposed by a preliminary court and that they will appeal the decision.
The lawyer did not clarify the crimes or cases for which the activist has been convicted, who was accused in July 2022 of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” for comments about the Revolutionary Guard. Shams added that she is still in prison and that there are other proceedings against her.
In addition, Hashemi Rafsanjani was arrested at the end of September for “inciting rioters” in the protests that have rocked Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini after being detained by the Morale Police for not wearing the Islamic headscarf properly.
The activist thus joined a large group of human rights defenders, journalists and public figures who have been arrested for their participation in or support for protests calling for the end of the Islamic Republic.
At least 16 people have been sentenced to death and four executed for their participation in the revolt, in which almost 500 people have died in police repression.
Hashemi Rafsanjani, 60, has a long history of activism for freedoms in Iran, which has taken her to court and jail on several occasions.
She was a parliamentarian between 1996 and 2000 and spent six months in jail between September 2012 and March 2013 for propaganda against the Islamic Republic regime for her participation in the 2009 protests against the re-election of conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.