Iranian Citizen Sentenced to Over 3 Years in Prison in Armenia

A 27-year-old Iranian man was sentenced to three years and one month in prison after being arrested five months ago at the airport on charges of illegal exit from Armenia.

According to IranWire sources, Mohammad Havashemzadeh, who had been detained during the 2022 protests in Iran, had only appeared in court once in the past five months to hear the charges against him.

On December 5, he received the initial court ruling while incarcerated at Armavir prison in Armenia, where he is currently held.

Sources told IranWire that the ruling can still be appealed, and the Armenian government has assigned a court-appointed lawyer for him. However, the initial verdict has not yet been sent to the lawyer.

Havashemzadeh was originally imprisoned in Tehran’s Greater Prison on October 11, 2022. He was a barista and a fan of protest rap music.

After living abroad for two and a half years, he returned to Iran to visit his mother and sister, only to be arrested outside his sister’s house in eastern Tehran.

According to a source, one week after entering Iran and visiting his mother in Bandar Abbas, Havashimzadeh traveled to Tehran and joined the street protests.

While shopping with his sister, he was surrounded by six plainclothes agents, who severely beat him and used pepper spray before taking him to the IRGC Intelligence building.

His close associates report that despite insufficient evidence, Judge Abdolqasim Salavati, known for handling Revolutionary Court cases, denied his release on bail.

After a previous release on bail, Havashemzadeh left the country and went to Turkey.

He attempted to travel legally to another country but was arrested at the Armenian airport when authorities discovered his visa was “fake.”