Five Azerbaijani activists have been arrested and flogged in Iran for condemning Armenia’s attack on Azerbaijan’s Tovuz region. Thus, the 112th Department of the Tabriz Criminal Court announced the verdict against 5 Azerbaijani activists who joined the protests in front of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Tabriz. According to the verdict, Hakim Ahmadi, Yasemen Zafari, Sadullah Sasani, Rahim Sasani and Mehdi Purali Khurmali were charged with “disturbing public order by participating in riots in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate.” On Jan. 12, activists were sentenced to one year in prison and 60 lashes in a secluded place, according to a report sent to them by the Tabriz Criminal Court’s Department 112.
“Pursuant to Articles 46, 49 and 54 of the Islamic Criminal Code, adopted in 2013, the sentences of those arrested and flogging are suspended for four years. “If, in addition to the penalty for the offense, they commit one of the crimes resulting in up to the seventh degree, revenge, diya or taziri arrest, the sentence imposed and postponed will be executed,” the court said in a statement.
According to the petition, Hakim Ahmadi was sentenced in absentia for not appearing in court.
It should be noted that on July 16 last year, Azerbaijani activists gathered in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate in Tabriz and declared their support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They expressed their condolences to the state and people of Azerbaijan in connection with the attack on Tovuz and condemned the regular aggression of Armenia. The activists named during the rally were detained by Iranian security forces. They were released on August 5 in exchange for 100 million tomans. Judge Ahmadi was arrested by security officials on October 18, 2018 in Marand.
