Watchdog

Rights activist Maryam Karimbeigi has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison for attending a concert by the popular Iranian singer Ebi in Turkey.

Amir Raisian, Karimbeigi's lawyer, told the Modara website on August 1 that the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran recently handed down the sentence for the charge of "assembly and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against national security."

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She also was sentenced to one year in prison for the "crime of propaganda against the system," and for a charge of "possessing alcoholic beverages" she was sentenced to one year in prison plus a fine and 74 lashes. Under Iranian law, only the most severe punishment is served.

Karimbeigi, whose brother, Mostafa Karimbeigi, was killed in the crackdown that followed mass street protests over the disputed June 2009 presidential vote, was arrested on June 14.

Karimbeigi once wrote on social media that it was her dream to attend an Ebi concert and was invited by the singer himself to an event in Turkey. A picture from backstage of that concert, which she posted on social media, was then used against her, with authorities saying she had acted against national security.

Karimbeigi and her mother, Shahnaz Akmali, have become outspoken defenders of rights for those killed during peaceful protests in Iran since Mostafa Karimbeigi was shot and killed by Iranian security forces during widespread protests following a disputed 2009 presidential election.

In April, Karimbeigi was summoned to the security office at the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, to receive an official explanation after she was allegedly expelled from the school while studying for her master's degree in sociology.

Shahnaz Akmali was also sentenced in October 2019 to one year in prison and barred from posting on social media and banned from leaving Iran.

With reporting and writing by Ardeshir Tayebi

HRODNA, Belarus -- Officials at a detention center in Belarus say jailed businessman and political activist Mikalay Autukhovich, who has been refusing food and water since July 11, has drunk some tea but remains on an IV drip.

The administration of Detention Center No. 1 in the western city of Hrodna said that the 59-year-old had been connected to an IV on August 1.

Autukhovich, whose trial started in May, has been unable to be present in the courtroom since last week due to his health condition, which significantly worsened after he launched the hunger strike.

Autukhovich’s relatives said earlier that he lost some 20 kilograms after he started the hunger strike to demand prison authorities allow him to receive newspapers and letters from his friends and relatives.

Autukhovich was charged with high treason, creating a criminal group and participating in its activities, attempting to seize power, inciting social hatred, and numerous other charges, including terrorism and weapons charges. If convicted, Autukhovich faces the death penalty or life in prison.

He and 11 co-defendants face the same charges, with the exception of high treason. Some were also charged with conspiracy and the preparation of actions to disrupt social order.

Autukhovich and the other defendants were arrested in December 2020 in the wake of a crackdown on activists, opposition politicians, independent journalists, and civil society following months-long rallies protesting the results of the August 2020 presidential poll that announced authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled the country since 1994, as the winner.

Opposition members, protesters, and the West have insisted that the election was rigged.

Investigators say Autukhovich and his group conducted several arson attacks against vehicles belonging to police officers and planned attacks on their property. Autukhovich has rejected all the charges. It is not known if any of his co-defendants pleaded guilty.

Autukhovich previously spent seven years and five months in prison on charges of illegal weapons possession, which he and his supporters rejected as politically motivated.