Saeed Soltanpour

Extra Bio Info:

Saeed Soltanpour is detained for his religious association and activity.

In November 2022, authorities arrested Soltanpour for the second time. His arrest came amid a crackdown on civil society since the outbreak of nationwide protests in 2022.

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Saeed Soltanpour was previously imprisoned for his religious association and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

In February 2018, authorities arrested Soltanpour 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. Soltanpour reportedly was charged with "refusing police orders (Art. 607 IPC), "assembling and colluding to act against national security" (Art. 610 IPC), and "disrupting public order" (Art. 618 IPC). Soltanpour was reportedly denied access to a lawyer.

In July 2018, Soltanpour was reportedly sentenced to seven years in prison, 74 lashes, and two years in exile. Soltanpour was expected to serve five years in prison as the sentences ran concurrently.

In September 2018, it was reported that Soltanpour was participating in a hunger strike demanding an end to Tabandeh's house arrest, the release of female Gonabadi Sufi prisoners, and for all Gonabadi Sufi prisoners in Great Tehran Penitentiary to be kept in the same ward.

In March 2019, a Tehran appeals court reportedly upheld Soltanpour's sentence.

On March 29, 2020, Soltanpour was released from prison following a state directive in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Soltanpour was reportedly denied adequate medical care and subjected to attacks and inhumane living conditions during his detention.