Journalist and blogger Ali Reza Firouzi was summoned to serve his prison sentence; Sourna Hashemi was summoned for questioning regarding his court dossier.

Ali Reza Firouzi, journalist and blogger whose 4.5-year prison sentence was upheld by the appellate court and begins on February 21, 2012, was summoned to appear in court to begin serving his sentencing.

According to Human Rights House of Iran, student activist Sourna Hashemi was also recently summoned to the Revolutionary Court to discuss his court dossier, which is now under review.

Judge Pir-Abassi presiding over Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court has sentenced Ali Reza Firouzi and Sourna Hashemi each to 2.5 years behind bars, stemming from their arrests in 2010.

These 2 activists were detained on January 2, 2010 in Orumiyeh (Urmia) and spent 2 months incommunicado behind bars with no information regarding their condition or whereabouts. After 70 days they were finally allowed to contact their families from Evin prison. Sourna Hashemi and Ali Reza Firouzi were released with bail on April 2, 2010 and May 12, 2010 respectively.

Ali Reza Firouzi was summoned to serve his new sentence despite the fact that the court of appeals recently upheld his prison sentence without any notification.

Previously both these students faced another trial regarding events that took place at Zanjan University, because they had objected to unethical conduct by the Vice-Chancellor of the school. They were each handed down a sentence of 6 months behind bars, which they served, along with an additional 2-year suspended sentence. Per a new ruling the suspended sentence for Ali Reza Firouzi must now be carried out.

Therefore Ali Reza Firouzi has now been summoned to serve 4.5 years behind bars.

The appellate court is still reviewing Sourna Hashemi’s court dossier and he has been summoned to appear for the review.

These 2 student activists from Zanjan University were arrested and transferred behind bars to serve their 6-month sentences on June 12, 2010, and were both recently released after serving their time.

Ali Reza Firouzi and Sourna Hashemi were deprived of their university education when they were put behind bars stemming from their disclosure of un-ethical conduct by a high-level university official.

In the past years, Intelligence officials have consistently harassed and threatened Hashemi via phone calls. This student has been arrested numerous times, and has another open case in the Revolutionary Court stemming from another arrest on November 19, 2009.

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/47991