Sepideh Gholian, a labor and civil activist and former political prisoner who is currently held in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, has been sentenced by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to both enforced and suspended imprisonment; at the same time, reports indicate increased security pressure on her family.
According to Kolbarnews, Sepideh Gholian was sentenced by Branch 1 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, in connection with a case formed during her recent arrest, to six months of enforced imprisonment and five years of suspended imprisonment.
This labor activist was arrested on Wednesday, December 11, 2025, during a ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer, along with several women activists including Narges Mohammadi, Aliyeh Motalebzadeh, Pouran Nazemi, and Hasti Amiri by government forces.
According to information from sources close to her family, Sepideh Gholian has been denied her legal right to “leave connected to release” under pressure from security institutions. This is while, given the country’s crisis conditions and wartime situation, many prisoners have been granted this right, but she has been prevented from taking leave.
Further reports indicate an intensification of pressure on the family of this political prisoner, and in recent months, her father and brother have been repeatedly summoned and interrogated by security institutions.
Sepideh Gholian, who has previously spent years in detention and prison, is currently held in the women’s ward of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad (Ward 6) under unsuitable conditions and increased pressure.
On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Sepideh Gholian had been released from Evin Prison after completing her sentence. She had spent a total of two years, two months, and 26 days in prison.
In April 2023, after publishing a video in which she strongly criticized Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, she was arrested by security forces and ultimately sentenced to two years of enforced imprisonment on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
Previously, on Saturday, March 15, 2023, just hours after being released following an amnesty directive, she was rearrested by security forces on the route from Tehran to Dezful and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison. She was transferred to the women’s ward of that prison on Monday, March 18 of the same year.
She has previously been arrested and sentenced multiple times due to her civil and labor activism.
