Iran hands 13-years jail term to woman who sought justice for son killed by police during protests

An Iranian court sentenced a mother, whose son was allegedly shot many times at close range by security personnel and who had requested justice for her child on social media, to 13 years in prison.

Human rights organizations and family members claim that Mahsa Yazdani was found guilty of blasphemy, provocation, insulting the supreme leader, and disseminating anti-regime propaganda.

Yazdani’s 20-year-old son Mohammad Javad Zahedi was slain at an anti-regime rally in September 2022. They claim she won’t be eligible for parole until she serves the first five years.

When Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish lady detained by Iran’s “morality police” for improperly donning her hijab, died in detention, videos and images of her son’s body covered in shotgun pellets went viral on social media.

Zahedi’s family claims that he was shot multiple times in the head and back at close range. According to a medical examiner’s assessment, multiple shotgun pellets killed him.

Yazdani demanded justice for her son and the other demonstrators slain in the demonstrations after her son was killed and openly denounced the regime’s crackdown on protestors. She was taken into custody at her house on August 22, and her trial and sentencing occurred shortly after.

“What will happen to my three-year-old brother?,” posted Mitra Zahedi, Yazdani’s daughter, on Instagram a few hours after the sentence’s announcement broke. Who is in charge of all this brutality?

The Center for Human Rights in Iran responded to the verdict and lengthy prison term by saying, “We strongly denounce the disgraceful sentencing of Mahsa Yazdani, a grieving mother seeking justice for her son.”

“Hundreds of mothers in Iran have been prevented from seeking justice for their loved ones who were killed while they are being persecuted for no more than speaking out,” the statement continued.

Iranian officials seem to be actively seeking the relatives of those slain during the protests, coinciding with the punishment.

Human rights organizations in Iran assert that during protests in the months that followed Amini’s death, over 380 demonstrators are thought to have died and over 16,000 detained. The officials contest the figure.