The Court of Appeals upholds the 16-year prison sentence for Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi
7-June-2022
Category: Prisoners، Students
June 6, 2022
Newsgroup: Students – Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: Mustafa Nili, lawyer of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi, the two imprisoned students of Sharif University, announced that the sentences of these students had been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi each had previously been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the Court of Appeals upheld the prison sentences of two detained Sharif University students, Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi.
On Monday, June 6, Mostafa Nili, announced that the Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals in Tehran had confirmed the sentences of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi, the two detained students at Sharif University of Technology, and medalists in the World Olympiads.
The court of first instance had previously sentenced them to 10 years in prison on charges of “vandalism, arson and destruction of public facilities”, and as well, to 5 years in prison for “conspiracy and acting against national security, and collaborating with dissident groups”. They were also sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” As the Court of Appeals has upheld the verdicts, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison will be applicable to them.
In an interview with “Emtedad Khabar”, Mustafa Nili said: “There are legal flaws that we referred to in our appeal bills. One of the most important ones is changing the title of their charges. In this case, the trial court did comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict without paying any attention to this issue.”
Mr. Nili announced that he would pursue the matter through the Supreme Court. He added: “Our next steps is to request for the retrial in the Supreme Court. Given that the verdict has been confirmed, the next step is to resume the trial in the Supreme Court. And we will take that step. In the meantime, given that a final verdict has been issued, we hope that our clients will be released from security ward 209.”
Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi have been in the so-called temporary detention in Evin Prison for more than two years.
Their verdicts have been upheld while regarding the issuance of heavy sentences for them, Zabihullah Khodaian, the spokesman of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, said on April 25 this year: “The sentences of these two students have not been finalized and are still in the initial stage.” Khodaian added: ” They were prosecuted on charges of corruption on earth, but the court did not find it proven.”
Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, a physics student at Sharif University of Technology, were arrested by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on April 10, 2020, and transferred to ward 209 of Evin Prison, the Ministry’s detention center. The students are said to have been arrested by plainclothes agents while being beaten and without being presented an arrest warrant.
The second hearing in the case of the two imprisoned students was held on January 25, 2022, and Mustafa Nili said at the time that their confessions, which had been broadcast by Fars News Agency closed to the Revolutionary Guards, had not been carried out in proper situation.
During the second year of the two students’ detention, Mustafa Nili called their continued detention “explicitly against the law.”
Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, a physics student at Sharif University of Technology, were arrested by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and held in solitary confinement for 59 days. The two were denied the right to counsel for about a year and, according to their families, were subjected to severe physical and psychological torture during their detention.
On Sunday, April 17, 2022, Mostafa Nili announced that the last hearing of the trial of Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi had been held on that day in Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, where their two other hearings also had been held on July 3, 2021 and January 25, 2022.
On May 5, 2020, Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, accused the students of collaborating with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.
It is worth mentioning that Amir Hossein Moradi is the winner of the silver medal of the 2017 National Astronomy Olympiad and Ali Younesi is the winner of the silver medal of the 2016 National Astronomy Olympiad as well as the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. In addition, Ali Younesi has brought honor for Iran by winning a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad held in China.