Iran courts hand suspended sentences and travel bans to five cultural activists

Iran’s Third Branch of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court sentenced five cultural and labor activists from Khuzestan Province to three years of suspended imprisonment and a two‑year travel ban. The defendants – Ahmadreza Nochian, Mohammad‑Zaman Kamarva, Monijeh Afshari, Maryam Zolqniazad and Kosar Mambini – were charged with "assembly and conspiracy against national security" and "propaganda activity against the regime". According to human‑rights monitors, the charges stem from their participation in peaceful teacher, retiree and worker protests, including demonstrations outside the Ahvaz Social Security Organization office and other labor‑rights rallies.

The Coordinating Council of Iran’s Cultural Workers’ Unions condemned the rulings as unjust, arguing that the sentences aim to intimidate independent union activity and limit civil‑society advocacy. The council called for the immediate reversal of the judgments and for an end to judicial harassment of union members, noting that several of the convicted have faced prior arrests for similar labour‑rights work.