Three activists from the city of Tabriz have received a combined seventeen-year prison sentence, human rights sources reported today.
According to the Human Rights Activists news agency, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court has handed down the jail-terms to Esmail Barzegari (dentist), Rasoul Heidarzadeh (musician) and Javad Zadkam (owner of a sports club) on espionage charges. The website said the three were arrested in the northwestern city of Tabriz close to ten months ago and were then transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. After enduring seven months of solitary confinement in ward 209, they were taken to the ward 350 of the prison.
The men reportedly had no legal representation at their trial, which was presided over by Judge Pirabbasi. In the end, Barzegari and Heidarzadeh were sentenced to seven years in prison each, while Zadkam received a three-year jail term.