The judiciary has sentenced Dana Karari, an Iranian-American citizen, in absentia to five years in prison.

🔸The Revolutionary Court in Zahedan has sentenced Dana Karari, an Iranian-American citizen, in absentia to five years in prison. The court case relates to the fact that last month, after about 19 months of being barred from leaving the country, she was able to leave Iran.

🔸On Wednesday, August 18, Karari’s lawyer announced that Branch Two of the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan, presided over by Mehdi Sarhadi-Rad, convicted her in accordance with Article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code and with the charge of “gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security,” sentencing her to five years in prison.

🔸According to this statement, two other volunteer individuals in the same case were also sentenced to five years in prison each on similar charges.

🔸Jared Gensser, Dana Karari’s lawyer, called the ruling “baseless” and said his client had not committed any crime and that his legal team would pursue all available legal avenues to overturn the sentence.

🔸Dana Karari also, in response to the Iranian court’s ruling, said that helping children in need to access education should not be regarded as a “threat to national security,” and emphasized that she rejects the charges and her conviction.

🔸According to her legal team, part of the allegations raised against Mrs. Karari’s activities was related to the “Mehr Children Foundation”; a non-governmental, registered organization in the United States that works to help children and disadvantaged families in Iran.

🔸Karari’s lawyers say that this foundation’s purely humanitarian activities, independent of governments, were carried out in accordance with the laws of Iran and the United States.

🔸In 1403, Dana Karari was briefly detained in Shiraz and then released on bail. However, from Azar 1403 until Tir of this year, she was not allowed to leave Iran, and during that period she faced charges including “cooperation with a hostile state” and “espionage.”

🔸She ultimately left Iran on July 24 of this year and returned to the United States. Her legal team says that her lawyer in Iran learned of the issuance of the sentence on Wednesday, while the date of the ruling was August 16, which corresponds to Mordad 25.

🔸Read the full report on the Radio Farda website.