According to reports received by the Hana Human Rights Organization, in recent days Kianoush Cheraghi, a citizen from Dehloran, was sentenced by Branch 101 of the Second Criminal Court of this city to 13 months and 16 days of imprisonment (with time spent in pre-trial detention deducted) on the charge of “spreading falsehoods in cyberspace”. He was also sentenced to 40 lashes on the charge of “insulting officers while on duty.”
The verdict states that this ruling is issued in absentia and is enforceable within 20 days of its notification.
Kianoush Cheraghi was previously arrested at his private residence on Tuesday, June 25, 2025, without the presentation of judicial documents.
During detention, he went on a dry hunger strike in protest against a one-month detention order issued without formal charges or interrogation.
According to informed sources, while in custody at Ilam Detention Center, he was held in a cell with 15 inmates accused of murder, deprived of basic facilities, and denied any transparent judicial process.
Cheraghi had previously been released from Darreh Shahr Prison on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, after serving 14 months of imprisonment, with the remainder of his sentence suspended.
He was first arrested on March 25, 2024, after being summoned to the Enforcement Branch, and transferred to Ilam Prison to serve his sentence. He was later released under electronic monitoring.
On January 26, 2025, Branch 6 of the Ilam Court of Appeals revoked his electronic monitoring.
Earlier, in October 2023, Branch 2 of the Ilam Revolutionary Court in Dehloran, presided over by Judge Seyed Reza Salahadini, sentenced him to one year in prison (counting previous time in detention) on the charge of “propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In a separate ruling from the same case, on November 6, 2023, Branch 101 of the Second Criminal Court of Dehloran sentenced him to two years in prison, along with a requirement to handwrite 200 pages of research and commentary on the wills of ten war victims from the Iran-Iraq war, to be approved by the Ilam Foundation for the Sacred Defense, on the charge of “spreading falsehoods with intent to disturb public opinion through electronic systems.”
Cheraghi, a former employee of the Social Security Organization, had been arrested by security forces in Dehloran on October 3, 2023, and was later released on bail pending trial.