Hanieh Farshi Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

HRANA News Agency – After eleven months of temporary incarceration, Hanieh (Sharareh) Farshi, a citizen from Tabriz in East Azerbaijan Province, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

According to a report by Bamdad Khabar news website, Judge Moghiseh presiding over the Revolutionary Court, Branch 28, sentenced Hanieh Farshi, 38, to a total of seven years in prison on charges of blasphemy and insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.

On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, the court’s ruling was given to Hanieh Farshi. She was tried two months ago without the presence of an attorney.

According to this report, the heavy sentence was imposed because of Hanieh Farshi’s confession to sending several email messages and also various Internet activities. These confessions took place while Hanieh Farshi was locked up in solitary confinement and placed under physical and psychological torture by the interrogators.

Hanieh Farshi’s mother has said that prior to her arrest, her daughter had no history of previous political activity.

On July 18, 2010, security forces raided Hanieh Farshi’s house and arrested her. She was then transferred to Evin Prison where she spent the first two months of her incarceration in solitary confinement. In January 2011, Hanieh Farshi was transferred to a ward which previously housed Methadone drug addicts but female political prisoners were also kept there. After several protests against the poor living arrangements in this ward, Hanieh Farshi together with all other female political prisoner was transferred to another cell block where female political prisoners are kept.

Hanieh Farshi suffers from severe depression due to psychological pressures imposed on her. Additionally, since her father’s death in October 2010, her condition has worsened due to the fact that she was not allowed to attend his funeral.