Golrokh Ebrahimi-Iraee

Age: 36

Activities/Rights: Human rights activist

Status: Evin Prison

Judicial status: 5 years imprisonment

Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of due process unfair trial, familial punishment, prison exile, access to lawyer, prolonged solitary confinement, torture and ill-treatment

Golrokh Ebrahimi-Iraee is a human rights activist who was first arrested in 2014 and sentenced to six years imprisonment for “propaganda against the system and blasphemy.” Her sentence was upheld on 22 December 2015 and she was arrested on 24 October 2016 to serve out her prison sentence.After serving her three year sentence, Golrokh was released from prison on 19 April 2019. Six months after release, she was arrested again for a case opened against her while she was still in prison. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment and banned from any party or group participation by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for “insulting the founder and leader of the Islamic Republic” and one year and six months for “propaganda against the system” by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Singing songs in protest to the executions of Zanyar and Loghman Moradi were found to be “insulting the Founder and Leader of the Islamic Republic” and her letters from prison being published by human rights organisations were considered to be “propaganda against the system.” Golrokh was arrested again on 9 November 2019 and held overnight in the Vozara Detention Centre in Tehran before being transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. She was forcefully transferred to the IRGC solitary Ward 2A of Evin Prison by being beaten by electric shockers in Qarchak Prison on 13 December 2020. After spending 43 days under interrogations in Ward 2A, she was returned to Qarchak Prison 24 January 2021, only to be prison-exiled to Amol Prison hours later.

Golrokh was released from Amol Prison on 9 May 2022 after the consolidation of her sentences. She was violently arrested on 26 September during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests. From behind bars, she continued to send messages of protest against the authorities and in support of the protests and other prisoners. Her trial took place at Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 4 January 2023 and subsequently sentenced on 13 April. Golrokh was sentenced to six years imprisonment for charges of “assembly and collusion against national security,” a year for “propaganda” and a two-year ban on membership of groups and parties and the confiscation of her phone. In April 2023, she sent a message to the “Dialogue to Save Iran” online conference, for which she was banned from visits. Her family reported that she had refused to attend her appeal hearing or request amnesty on 19 June. On appeal, a five year prison term and additional punishments were upheld. Golrokh continues to speak out against the death penalty and for the most voiceless prisoners while serving her sentence in Evin Prison.