Silencing Elite Voices: New Sentences for Moradi and Younesi on Vague Charges and Additional Punishments
9-August-2025
Category: Prisoners
9 August 2025
News Group: Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement – Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi, two elite students and political prisoners who had already been handed heavy prison sentences, have once again been targeted by judicial pressure through the issuance of new court rulings while in prison.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, and as reported by defence lawyer Mostafa Nili on his X account, Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced each of the two students to 15 months in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the state.” In addition, on another charge against Ali Younesi — “endorsing and strengthening the Israeli regime” — he has been sentenced to five years in Kerman Prison.
According to Nili, as an additional punishment, Younesi will be denied any access to cyberspace and phone contact with the outside world (except in necessary cases and under the direct supervision of the prison director) for the duration of his sentence.
The issuance of such sentences for vague, ambiguous, and unprovable charges such as “strengthening the Israeli regime” or “propaganda against the state” comes while both prisoners are already incarcerated and under pressure, without the possibility of freely defending themselves or having full access to their lawyers. This constitutes a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial, as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The judiciary’s decision to issue new sentences and impose additional restrictions on these two political prisoners is part of a broader policy of increasing pressure on political prisoners and is in clear violation of Iran’s international obligations.