Proposal Aims to Allow Authorities to Hold Detainees for at Least 20 Days without Counsel

MAY 10, 2019

On May 5, 2019, the Iranian Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee approved a problematic proposal that would allow detainees accused of national security crimes to choose their own lawyer rather than one from a court-approved list.

But the proposal, which would have to make it through two other stages before it could become law, would allow the authorities to hold these detainees while denying them access to counsel for at least 20 days during an initial “investigation” stage.

Since late 2017, detainees held on national security-related charges—including journalists, activists, and defense lawyers—have been told to choose their counsel from a list approved by Iran’s chief justice.

Cleric’s Murder Gives Impetus to Calls for Military Control over Internet

MAY 10, 2019

Authorities’ Focus on Political Activists while Violent Individuals Go Unnoticed on Social Media

Following the killing of Mostafa Ghasemi, a cleric in the city of Hamedan, by an individual who had displayed his violent intentions on his Instagram account, Iran’s security and military establishments have expressed support for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s demand to impose greater restrictions on the Internet and tighter controls over social media in particular.

Since Nasrollah Pejmanfar, a hard-line conservative member of Parliament, and fellow lawmaker Rouhollah Momen-Nasab, one of the strongest proponents of Internet censorship, proposed the “Managing Social Messengers Bill” to the Parliamentary Committee on Cultural Affairs in November 2018, there has been increasing efforts to hand over control of the Internet to Iran’s military.

Tehran University Student Speaks Out Against “Virginity Tests,” Inhumane Interrogation Methods

MAY 11, 2019

Parisa Rafiei, a student at the University of Tehran, was pressured to take a “virginity test” while in state custody and then blocked from lodging a complaint against the inhumane practice, she revealed in an open letter published on May 9, 2019.

“In a totally unlawful action during my detention, my interrogator with the approval of the case investigator sent me to the medical examiner’s office on Behesht St. for a virginity test but I stood firm and despite threats and lots of pressure, they did not succeed,” she wrote.

Seven Baha’i Faith Members Sentenced to Three Years Imprisonment in Bushehr

From left to right: Minoo Riyazati, Emad Jaberi, Farideh Jaberi, Asadollah Jaberi, Ehteram Sheikhi.

MAY 12, 2019

A revolutionary court in the city of Bushehr in southern Iran sentenced seven members of the Baha’i faith to three years in prison each for allegedly answering questions about their religious beliefs to Muslim guests in their homes.

On May 6, 2019, they were convicted of “membership in an organization against national security,” a reference to the persecuted faith, a source with detailed knowledge of the cases told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on May 9.

The source identified the Baha’i faith members as Asadollah Jaberi, his wife Ehteram Sheikhi, their son Emad Jaberi, Jaberi’s sister Farideh Jaberi, as well as Minoo Riyazati, Farrokh Faramarzi, and Pooneh Nasheri.