New Charges Against Younesi and Moradi; Ali Younesi Denied Presence in Court
23-July-2025
Category: Prisoners
22 July 2025
News Category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – A hearing regarding new charges against Amirhossein Moradi and Ali Younesi, two imprisoned elite students, was held on Sunday, 20 July, at Branch 23 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. However, Ali Younesi was not allowed to attend the session, despite his lawyers’ repeated efforts.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Aida Younesi, Ali’s sister, published a post on X asking, “Where is Ali Younesi?” She noted that in the past 21 days, Ali had only made one brief phone call to their mother, and since then, there has been no information about his condition. She added, “My mother went to court hoping to see her son even for a moment, but was left behind closed doors.”
During the court session, Amirhossein Moradi was brought in handcuffed and shackled. The hearing, presided over by Judge Seyed Ali Mazloum, was held to examine the charge of “propaganda against the regime,” allegedly related to statements attributed to him from inside prison.
As for Ali Younesi, the court had scheduled his hearing to be held in absentia. This is despite his lawyers having submitted a formal written request for his presence at the session. According to informed sources, security agencies prevented his transfer to court. The judge announced that the next hearing for Ali Younesi will take place on 27 July.
Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amirhossein Moradi, a physics student at Sharif University of Technology—both medalists in the Astronomy Olympiad—were arrested on 10 April 2020 by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on charges of alleged ties with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. They were transferred to the security wing 209 of Evin Prison. In the preliminary trial, both were sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment, a verdict that was upheld in the appeals court.