Esmaeil Darestanı Arrested To Serve Imprisonment

Human Rights in Iran – Wednesday, September 7, 2022 – Esmaiel Darestani, a journalist and media activist, went to Astara County Prison to endure imprisonment.

According to the report of Human Rights in Iran, In recent days, Esmaeil Darestani, a freelance journalist and writer, was arrested and taken to prison to serve his 2-year prison term for the case that was opened against him following the complaint of the Friday Prayer leader and the head of the Public Culture Council of this city.

Esmaeil Darestani was sentenced to two years in prison by Branch 102 of the Criminal Court 2 of Astara on charges of publishing lies with the intent to disturb public opinion) and (propaganda against the regime through ethnic division). The ruling was confirmed by the Gilan Province Court of Appeal، according to the report.

In this regard, an informed source told the reporter of Human Rights in Iran: “After filing a complaint by the Astara General Culture Council, which was initiated by the Friday Prayer leader and Dabir Tashrini, the former head of the Astara Culture and Guidance Department, Esmaeil Darestani was arrested by security forces in August 2022 and after going through the interrogation process, he was released on bail 3 days later.”

“During the investigation phase, after obtaining an opinion from the Iranian Cyber Police (FATA Police) and conducting an investigation according to the theory of the FATA police, Radio Gilan and Jarchi did not belong to Esmaeil Darestani, and a restraining order was issued for this media activist during the investigation phase. However, following the repeated complaint of the prosecutor’s representative, this case was referred to Branch 102 of the 2nd Criminal Court of Astara. After the completion of the proceedings, Esmaeil Darestani was tried on the charges of “spreading falsehoods with the intention of disturbing the public opinion” and “propaganda against the regime by creating ethnic divisions” and was sentenced to 2 years in prison, which was confirmed by the Appeals Court of Gilan Province.”, this informed source added.

Suppression of freedom of speech and opinion violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights approved on December 16, 1966, which emphasizes the right of individuals to freely disseminate political and ideological ideas and opinions.

Arbitrary arrest, failure to explain the allegation(s) against the person at the moment of arrest and keeping the accused in custody indeterminately violates Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights approved on December 16, 1966.

Also, people’s right to a fair trial is one of the inalienable rights that is emphasized in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In Article 5 of the Criminal Procedure Law, it is emphasized on informing the accused as soon as possible about the alleged charges and providing the right of access to a lawyer and other defense rights mentioned in the law.