Political Prisoner Sepideh Qolian To Stand Public Trial

In a letter written from Evin Prison on Tuesday, she revealed that despite her previous declaration of refusing to partake in what she labeled a sham trial, she will take the stand and represent herself in the public trial on Wednesday.

“Fueled by fearlessness in publicly speaking the truth, I am resolved to attend the hearing within the unjust court and present my defense,” read the letter from the young activist who is now studying law inside the brutal Evin Prison.

Earlier this year, Qolian released a message from inside the notorious prison, stating her unwillingness to participate in any court proceedings as long as the "Islamic execution regime" persists, and as long as those who “courageously stand against oppression and tyranny remain hostages of the Islamic regime.”

Qolian, along with Esmail Bakhshi, a labor activist, was subjected to torture to extract so-called confessions after being arrested in 2018 during labor protests in southwestern Khuzestan province.

On Wednesday (July 19), the court will publicly hear charges against Qolian of threatening national security, charges freely handed out by the regime to non-regimists.

In 2019, while Qolian was detained at Qarchak Prison, she witnessed the broadcast of her own confessions on television and recognized the presenter, regime mouthpiece Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, as the same female interrogator referred to as Ms. Askari by her other interrogators. 

Subsequently, in a series of tweets, Qolian recounted her ordeal and revealed that the texts she and others were forced to read in front of the camera had been prepared by Zabihpour.