Iran January 2020 Protests: Issuance of Imprisonment Sentences for 5 Citizens Living in Amol

Human Rights in Iran – On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Amol Revolutionary Court issued 5 sentences separately for Shora Fekri, Meysam Khalili, Mohsen Rezaei, Salman Farrokhi and another person named Rayi, the detainees of the protests in January 2020, each sentenced to 6 months in prison delivered to the defendants right after issuance.

According to Human Rights in Iran, on Tuesday, April 22, 2020, Shora Fekri, Meysam Khalili, Mohsen Rezaei, Salman Farokhi and another person with the surname of Rayi, were among the detainees of the protests in January 2020, presided over by Judge Mahdavi in  Amol Revolutionary Court found guilty of “propaganda against the regime” and each was sentenced to six months of imprisonment.

According to the report, the sentence is issued due to the presence of Shora Fekri, Meysam Khalili, Mohsen Rezaei, Salman Farokhi and another person with the family name Rayi, in the protest rallies in January 2020 when Ukrainian aircraft has been shot down by IRGC Air Defense, killing 176 innocent passengers and flight crew.

Human Rights in Iran, on January 12, 2020, published a report in which indicated and covered arrests of Shora Fekri, a student activist and former student of Mazandaran University, during a protest rally by students and citizens in Amol.

All of the aforementioned were under arrest during a protest rally in January 2020 after IRGC Air Defense has shot down Ukrainian aircraft PS 752, and were released on bail after the interrogation was completed.

Since Monday, January 11, 2020, widespread protest rallies in various cities of Iran was held in response to the news of shooting down of the   Ukrainian Aircraft by IRGC Air Defense, targeted a few minutes after taking off from IKIA. The crash killed all 176 passengers and crew of the plane. Citizens participating in protests chanted slogans calling for full access to the truth about the tragedy.

Flight number PS 752 of Ukrainian International Airlines departed from IKIA in Tehran at 6:12 AM on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, and a few minutes later it was targeted and shot down by IRGC Air Defense.

The incident happened just hours after Iran’s missile attack on two US airbases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of a senior IRGC commander by the United States.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces in the Islamic Republic admitted after three days that IRGC Air Defense had shot down the Ukrainian plane. Islamic Republic President, Hassan Rouhani, also announced on Twitter on Saturday, January 11, 2020, that a human error causes IRGC Air Defense to shoot down the Ukrainian plane and the death of 176 people.

Also, on January 15, 2020, Amnesty International issued a declaration on the illegal conduct run by Iranian Security and Anti-Riot Forces in dealing with protesters during the protest rallies related to the shooting down of PS 752 Flight and death of 176 passengers and flight crew belonging to the Ukrainian Airlines, the report said.

Holding protest rallies without weapons is one of the rights enshrined in Article 27 of the Iranian Constitution, which the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran claims to have enforced, but different interpretations by the security services in their favor and in order to restrict and suppress citizens, in Iran, the constitution is being ignored.

Repression of citizens and the state security charges against them, including cases of flagrant violation of human rights and the suppression of freedom of expression in Iran, article19 of the UDHR, and Article19 of the ICCPR, ratified by Iran is also emphasized and enforceable.

The right to a fair trial is also one of the inalienable rights enshrined in article 10 of the UDHR.