Two South Azerbaijani civil rights activists, Huseynali Mohammadi and Taha Kermani were found guilty of “Insulting Islamic Sanctity” , “Insulting the Supreme leader of Islamic Republic” and “Causing Damage to Public Properties” and each were sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Iranian court yesterday.

Each activist received a sentence of 10 years in prison from Court of Tabriz and another 3 years’ incarceration from the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal totaling to the harsh sentence of 13 years imprisonment.

Huseyali Mohammadi and Taha Kermani, pictured above, were arrested by Iran’s Intelligence Agency-Ettelaat and transferred to Tabriz Prison to serve their time. Reportedly, Mohammadi sustained serious injuries due to assault by the arresting officers.

Both activist were arrested approximately two years ago at the Sahand Stadium of Tabriz, South Azerbaijan while cheering for Tractor, the South Azerbaijani popular football team. During their 6 month detention at the Central Detention Centre of Ettelaat in Tabriz both activists were subjected to ill treatment and torture.

The Revolutionary Tribunal of Tabriz has also found another South Azerbaijani activist, Murteza Muradpour, pictured below, guilty of “Anti-State Propaganda” and sentenced him to 3 years in Prison.
He was detained by Ettelaat in 2011 and held incommunicado for 6 months due to his alleged role in a peaceful protest demanding linguistic rights for Azerbaijani Turks. The protest took place at the Elgolu National Park of Tabriz.

In another development Ali Rezayi, a prominent South Azerbaijani Human Rights activist who was detained and held in Evin Prison for 95 days has been released on a bail awaiting his trial with no set-date.