Iranian Labor Activist Gets 3 Years for Criticizing Supreme Leader

Iranian labor activist Mohammad Davari was arrested and transferred to Adelabad Prison to begin a three-year sentence on charges of "insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei."

In December 2023, Judge Mahmoud Sadati, who presided over the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in the city of Shiraz, issued Davari's sentence.

Alongside the prison term, Davari faces a travel ban with passport cancellation, a prohibition on online activities, and a mandatory two-year residence in Bardsir County, Kerman.

Additionally, he was sentenced to an extra one and a half years for "propaganda against the system in favor of hostile groups online."

UN experts have long reported the absence of fair trials and judicial independence in Iran. Cases sent to the Islamic Revolutionary Courts are overseen by the regime’s security forces and intelligence apparatus.

Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the Court handed down the maximum sentence of three years for "insulting the Supreme Leader".

Despite Khamenei’s public assurance in 2016 that criticism of him is acceptable, the charges leveled against Davari highlight the Iranian regime's intolerance toward dissent and its repressive measures against those who speak out.

Political activist Fatemeh Sepehri, vocal in her criticism of Khamenei, has been subjected to psychological torture and remains imprisoned since her arrest during the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022. Despite serious health issues and multiple surgeries, including open-heart surgery, Sepehri continues to be held