Mother of slain Iranian protester sentenced to 13 years in prison for seeking justice

Mahsa Yazdani, a mother who demanded justice for her slain son was sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Iranian court for blasphemy, incitement, insulting the supreme leader and spreading anti-regime propaganda, The Guardian reported.

Last year, the video of her 20-year-old son Mohammad Javad Zahedi who was shot dead during the nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, went viral on social media.

Quoting the family, The Guardian reported that Zahedi was shot several times at close range in the back and head. The report also says that this was later confirmed by a medical examiner’s report.

Following the death of her son, Yazdani publicly criticized the regime and their attacks on the protesters. She also called for justice for her son and others who were killed like him during the demonstrations.

Yazdani was arrested in Sari in August this year and taken to custody at an undisclosed location, as reported by Iranian Wire.

After the reports of her sentencing came out, her daughter Mitra Zahedi shared a post on Instagram that read: “What will happen to my three-year-old brother? who is responsible for all this cruelty?”

Yazdani’s sentencing is the recent one in a string of arrests and sentencings of the victims’ families by Iranian authorities.

This year, multiple people who are related to the victims of last year’s protests were either arrested or sentenced to jail by the regime in an attempt to silence them.

The demonstrations broke out after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaching the dress code.

Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested over what officials labelled foreign-instigated “riots”.

The battle over the hijab became a powerful rallying cry last fall, with women playing a leading role in the protests.

The demonstrations quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical rulers, whom the mostly young protesters accuse of being corrupt, repressive and out of touch.

Several Iranian celebrities joined the protests, including prominent directors and actors from the country’s celebrated film industry. Several Iranian actresses were detained after appearing in public without the hijab or expressing support for the protests.