Five young women have been sentenced to spend time in prison for participating in protests last August, reports from Iran say.

Three of the accused “were arrested, while attending a protest assembly on August 2, in front of Daneshjoo (Student) park in Tehran and taken to Qarchak prison”, The Defenders for Human Rights Center (DHRC) reported on Sunday, October 21.

Based on the same report, the five detainees have been transferred from Qarchak to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

Yasaman Aryani, Azar Heidary and Saba Kord Afshari are sentenced to one year, while Niloufar Homafar and Mojdeh Rajabi to six months.

Reports, at the time indicated that Yasaman Aryani, 23, was arrested after helping an old woman who was thrown to the ground by anti-riot units.

Right after their arrest, the young detainees posted a message on their experience and calling for help via a cellphone from inside a State Security Force van as they were being taken to jail.

Thousands of enraged protesters poured into the streets of several Iranian cities for several days in early August, protesting the country’s faltering economy, skyrocketing inflation, hardship and hiking prices.

The protesters soon openly chanted against the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other clergy who have been ruling Iran for nearly four decades.

Reportedly, dozens of protesters were placed behind bars in Evin and fifty female detainees in Qarchak prison, which is described as the largest prison for women in Iran.

Videos posted on social media showed anti riot units resorting to violence against the mainly young protesters.

Days after the numerous arrests, London based Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement on August 8, calling for immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.

AI also called for an “impartial and independent” investigation into the suspicious death of the 26-year old Reza Otadi who was killed during the same protests in city of Karaj, 51 km (31 mi) west of the capital, Tehran.

The Islamic Republic authorities have never accepted the responsibility for those killed in anti-establishment demonstrations. They have always insisted that the victims were shot by “unidentified” individuals among the crowd, the “agents” of Western intelligence services and “elements” embedded in the rallies.

Source » radiofarda