Ahmad Alizadeh is a trade union activist for teachers and a high school sports teacher in Abdanan, Ilam Province, with 29 years of experience.

Alizadeh was arrested by security forces on 18 October 2022 during the anti-government protests in Abdanan and was released 15 days later on bail of 10 billion rials – nearly 20,000 USD.

On 8 January 2023, he was rearrested after being summoned to the city court and released two days later on bail of 4 billion rials – 8,000 USD.

Alizadeh’s trial took place in absentia on 14 February 2023, at the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Ilam, presided over by Judge Rajab Mohammadi, and on 16 March of the same year, he was informed of his prison sentence and additional punishment.

According to the verdict, he was sentenced to three years and one day in prison on charges of “forming a group of more than two people with the intent to disrupt national security” and to and six months of imprisonment for “propaganda against the state”.

Additionally, he was sentenced to one and a half years of disqualification from public service and one and a half years of compulsory residence in the city of Fanuj, in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Based on Article 462 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, his sentence was reduced to 27 months of imprisonment and six months of imprisonment, with the most severe punishment to be enforced.

Furthermore, in June 2023, the Administrative Violations Department of the Education Ministry in Ilam ordered his forced retirement.

On 5 November 2023, Alizadeh presented himself to Ilam Central Prison to serve his sentence and was released with an electronic tag in June 2024 after seven months in prison.

He will spend the remaining 20 months of his imprisonment outside the prison and with the restriction of movement of 1000 meters from his home.

1. Women, Life, Freedom Uprising: Jina Amini (Mahsa Amini), a 21-year-old Kurdish woman from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, was arrested on a street in Tehran on 13 September 2022 by the morality police because of the way she was dressed. Shortly after her arrest, she was transferred to Kasra Hospital in Tehran with head injuries and symptoms of brain death, and passed away three days later on 16 September 2022. The government’s killing of Jina sparked unprecedented anti-government protests, which began with a large turnout at her funeral at Aichi Cemetery in Saqqez and quickly spread to many cities across Iran. These widespread protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which lasted for several months, resulted in at least 527 protesters being killed and thousands injured and arrested. The protests are known for their central slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” (Kurdish: Jin, Jiyan, Azadi).

2. Article 489 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Anyone who, with any belief, forms or leads a group, organisation, or branch consisting of more than two people, whether inside or outside the country, under any name or title, with the aim of disrupting national security, and is not recognized as a mohareb (enemy of God), shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of two to 10 years.”

3. Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Anyone who engages in propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or in favour of groups and organisations opposing the state, in any manner, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three months to one year.”