Ziaoldin Nabavi: starred student sentenced to 15 years in prison and 74 lashes

Iran’s Ministry of Advanced Education uses a star system where “delinquent” students are penalized with a star every time they “misbehave.” The system is primarily designed to punish student activists; the students receiving certain number of stars could face suspension or expulsion]

Committee of Human Rights Reporters- Zia Nabavi, spokesperson for the Council of the Right to Education has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and 74 lashes by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. The judge for the case is Pir Abassi.

The sentence is broken down as follows: three years for conspiring to disturb national security, one year for propagating against the regime, one year for disturbing public order, 74 lashes for agitating the public’s [peace of] mind, and 10 years imprisonment in the town of Izeh (a city in the province of Khuzestan) for cooperating with the MKO (Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization).

The last sentence has been handed down despite Zia Nabavi’s strong denial of any ties with the MKO, and stated the only reason the court issued such sentence is because he has family members in Camp Ashraf (located in Iraq, and run by the MKO).

Zhinoos Sharifi, the laywer representing Zia said: “The sentence is revenge against Zia for his activities in the Council to Defend the Right to Eduction. The court has cited Zia’s interview with Amir Kabir news site [a news service belonging to the students of Polytecnic University of Tehran] as a reason for his cooperation with the MKO. The court claims that the news site is run by the MKO.”

Ziaoldin Nabavi is one of the starred students whose existence Mahmoud Ahmadijnejad repeatedly denied in pre-election televised debates. Zia was arrested on the night of June 15th at a friend’s house. According to his laywer, the main charge against him was participating in a June 15th demonstration.

Mr. Nabavi, during his incarceration and interrogation in section 209 of Evin prison, was repeatedly and harshly beaten by his interrogators.

Ms. Atefeh Nabavi, Zia’s cousin who was arrested at the same time, has been sentenced to four years in prison by the Revolutionary Court.

In the days leading to the June 12th election, starred students held demonstrations against Ahmadinejad’s claims [that there are no starred students]. The demonstrations took place in front of the Ministry of Advanced Education, the state television office, the University of Tehran, and some squares in Tehran. After the election, and in the course of widespread arrests of political activists, 10 members of the Council to Defend the Right to Education were also arrested. Currently, Ms. Mahdiyeh Golroo, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Saeed Jalalifar, Peyman Aref, Majid Dori, and Zia Nabavi are the members of the council who remain in prison.