Jina Modares-Gorji, a civil activist from Sanandaj, has been sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Karami.
According to Kolbarnews, the Sanandaj Islamic Revolutionary Court convicted Jina Modares-Gorji, a journalist and women’s rights activist, on several charges: “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime” for which she received 10 years of imprisonment, “collaborating with hostile groups and states” for which she received another 10 years, and “propaganda against the regime” for which she received one year. Based on the “merger and aggregation of sentences” law, the severest penalty, 10 years of imprisonment with exile to Hamedan Prison, will be enforced.
Jina Modares-Gorji’s lawyers have officially filed an appeal against this heavy sentence, and the case will be sent to the appellate court for review. The charges against Modares-Gorji include “establishing the Zhivano Association with a feminist ideology aimed at overthrowing the regime,” “purposefully participating in protests and chanting subversive slogans,” “contact with anti-revolutionary elements,” “participating in international conferences and workshops,” and “publishing content on social media and giving interviews to foreign media to depict the country’s situation negatively and inflame public sentiment following the state murder of Jina Amini.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Court has also referred the charge of “spreading false information and inciting violence” to the Criminal Court, sending the case to Branch 2 of the Sanandaj Criminal Court. The Revolutionary Court based its convictions on reports from the Ministry of Intelligence.
Furthermore, the court ruled that serving her sentence in Sanandaj Prison poses a “security threat” and cited Article 513 of the Criminal Procedure Code, ordering her to serve her sentence in Hamedan Prison.
Jina Modares-Gorji, a journalist and women’s rights activist, was first violently arrested by security agents of the Intelligence Ministry on September 21, 2022, during the Jina Revolutionary Uprising and was temporarily released on bail on November 8, 2022, after 40 days of detention. The bail amount was later increased to one billion tomans after new charges were filed.
She was arrested for the second time on April 21, 2023, by security forces and was temporarily released on July 3, 2023, on a heavy bail of five billion tomans after spending 84 days in detention, with the first month in solitary confinement under harsh conditions. Between the two arrests, she was constantly under pressure and surveillance by security and judicial authorities.
In April 2024, the Sanandaj Municipality, under the “Noor Plan” and on the pretext of “non-compliance with Islamic hijab,” temporarily sealed her bookstore “Zhira” for a few days.
The first court session for the charges against this women’s rights activist was held on February 12, 2022, in the First Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Akbari. The second session was on September 13, 2023, in the First Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, and the third session was on April 10, 2024, presided over by Judge Karami.
