Zhila Hojabri was arrested by security forces in Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province, in August 2022. After being held for several weeks in a security detention centre in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, she was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison.

A month later, she was moved to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, and was interrogated daily for several months at the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj.

After about six months of detention, she was provisionally released on bail.

In January 2023, she was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Bukan on charges of “membership of opposition groups”, “propaganda against the state”, and “insulting a government official”.

According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the Law on Consolidation of Sentences, the most severe punishment, which is five years in prison, is enforceable. This sentence was later reduced to three years and eight months following an appeal.

In January 2024, Hojabri was sent to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj to serve her sentence. In June 2024, she was released with an electronic ankle monitor.

1. 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.”

2. Article 607 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Any form of attack or resistance knowingly directed against government officials during the performance of their duties is considered as defiance. The punishment for such defiance is imprisonment ranging from six months to two years if the offender displays a weapon with the intent to threaten; imprisonment from one to three years if the offender uses the weapon during the act; and in other cases, imprisonment from three months to one year.”

3. Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code: “In the case of multiple crimes, only the most severe punishment mentioned in the verdict is enforceable, and the other punishments are not considered unless the most severe punishment is reduced or converted for a legal reason, such as the private plaintiff’s withdrawal of his complaint, the annulment of the legal punishment, or the passage of time, in which case the next most severe punishment will be implemented.”

4. In cases where an individual accepts the verdict issued by the lower court and waives their right to appeal, they will be subject to the law of “submission to the verdict” and will receive a reduction in their sentence.