Additional Name(s): کسری نوری
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sufi
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes
Appeal: Rejected
Sentence: 7 Years, 6 Months' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February/20/2018
Date of Sentencing: July//2018
Date of Release: March/16/2023
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Association Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations
Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Public Disorder Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Unlawful Disobedience
Kasra Nouri was imprisoned for his religious association and for reporting on religious freedom conditions.
In February 2018, authorities arrested Nouri, a reporter for the website Majzooban-e-Noor, following a violent crackdown on people protesting the arrest of Nematollah Riahi. Riahi, a member of the Sufi Gonabadi Order, had come to Tehran earlier in February to participate in a sit-in protesting the house arrest of spiritual leader Noor Ali Tabandeh. Nouri was reportedly charged with "propaganda against the state" (Art. 500 IPC), "refusing police orders" (Art. 607 IPC), "assembling and colluding to act against national security" (Art. 610 IPC), and "disrupting public order" (Art. 618 IPC). Nouri was reportedly denied access to a lawyer.
In July 2018, Nouri was reportedly sentenced to 12 years in prison, 74 lashes, two years in exile, two years of deprived social rights, and a two-year travel ban. Nouri is expected to serve seven years and six months as the sentences run concurrently.
In March 2019, a Tehran appeals court reportedly upheld Nouri's sentence.
In August 2022, it was reported that Nouri had been transferred from Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz to the Ministry of Intelligence’s local office in Shiraz for unknown reasons.
On March 16, 2023, Nouri was reportedly released from prison after receiving amnesty.
Nouri has reportedly been denied adequate health care and subjected to attacks, prolonged solitary confinement, and inhumane living conditions during his detention.
Nouri was previously imprisoned for his religious activity.
"Kasra Nouri" United For Iran
"Kasra Nouri" Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Magid, Tweet, September 2, 2022
ARAM Iran, Tweet, August 30, 2022
"نگهداری در بازداشتگاه اداره اطلاعات شیراز؛ گزارشی از آخرین وضعیت کسری نوری" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland, Tweet, August 30, 2022
USCIRF Tweet May 3, 2022
"Iran Appeals Court Upholds Lengthy Prison Sentences, Lashings Against 23 Dervishes" Center For Human Rights In Iran
"18 Sufis on Strike in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary Issue Three Demands" Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Over 200 Dervishes Convicted" Human Rights Watch
"Mass Conviction of Sufi Protesters “Unprecedented in Iran’s Judicial History” Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Crackdown on Dervish Minority" Human Rights Watch
"Clashes Between Police and Sufis Leave Five Dead" Iran Wire
"Six People Said Killed, 300 Arrests At Sufi Protest In Iran" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"Clashes Highlight Tensions Between Dervishes And Iran's Establishment" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)