Kurdish civil rights activist sentenced to six months in prison in Iran

A Kurdish civil rights activist in Iran has been sentenced to prison for “spreading falsehoods with the intention of disturbing public opinion”.

Fereshteh Mansouri, a Kurdish civil rights activist from Sarableh, Ilam Province, has been sentenced to six months and one day in prison by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Chardavol, Ilam Province, reported the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

Mansouri was convicted of “spreading falsehoods with the intention of disturbing public opinion”.

According to KHRN, Mansouri’s trial took place on 5 August and she was charged with “spreading falsehoods with the intention of disturbing public opinion by publishing fabricated and untrue content on social media”. The written verdict was delivered to Mansouri the following day.

Notably, the court suspended Mansouri’s prison sentence of six months and one day for a period of three years.

The verdict imposes restrictions on Mansouri, preventing her from engaging in any online activities or expressing opinions on social issues by blocking her access to social media networks through mobile phone lines.

She must also attend medical and psychological centres and submit a health certificate at the end of the sentence to the enforcement unit of the criminal court in Chardavol.

Mansouri, a philosophy graduate, was initially arrested on 23 October last year during anti-government protests in Sarableh, Ilam province, and was released on bail after spending 13 days in detention.

She was subsequently charged with “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security”.

The Sarableh Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced her to a total of three years and six months’ imprisonment, which was commuted to six months’ imprisonment by the Ilam Provincial Court of Appeal after she appealed.

On 21 January, Mansouri was transferred to Ilam prison to serve her sentence, but was released after 10 days following a pardon.