Forough Taghipour, Marzieh Farsi, and Zahra Safaei, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), who are currently imprisoned in Evin Prison, have collectively been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Forough Taghipour and Marzieh Farsi have each been sentenced to 15 years, while Zahra Safaei has been sentenced to 5 years.
On February 16, the Campaign for the Defense of Political Prisoners wrote that the sentences for Ms. Farsi and Ms. Taghipour were issued “in absentia” and “in a joint case.”
Forough Taghipour, 29 years old with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, was arrested for the second time on August 21, 2023, in Tehran. She was first arrested in March 2019, along with her mother Nasrin Jabariyanha, on charges of connection with the Mojahedin and anti-government propaganda. She remained in prison until February 2022.
Marzieh Farsi, a 56-year-old mother of two who had previously spent three years in prison and is suffering from cancer, was also arrested on August 21, 2023, in Tehran.
Zahra Safaei, a 60-year-old mother of two, has been imprisoned for the third time. She spent eight years in prison in the 1980s due to her support for the Mojahedin. In March 2019, she was arrested for the second time with her daughter, Parastoo Moeini, and was released in February 2022.
On December 9, 2023, Forough Taghipour and Marzieh Farsi were charged at Evin Courthouse with “membership in opposition groups” under the accusation of “rebellion.”
In the laws of the Iranian regime, the charge of “rebellion” is defined as “armed uprising against the system,” and is usually punished with execution.
In recent months, the security and judicial forces of the Iranian regime have detained and sentenced many civil activists to heavy penalties.
