Human rights defender Sepideh Gholian released after six months upon suspension of the remainder of her sentence
On 30 May 2026, Sepideh Gholian was released from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad after serving six-months of her five-year prison sentence, issued in February 2026 as a reprisal for her human rights work.
Sepideh Gholian is a woman human rights defender and a freelance journalist, with her human rights work focusing primarily on labour rights. She has worked closely with the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex.
On 30 May 2026, Sepideh Gholian was released from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad after serving six months of her five-year prison sentence, issued in February 2026 as a reprisal for her human rights work.
Sepideh Gholian is a woman human rights defender and an anti-death penalty campaigner whose human rights work focuses primarily on labour rights, prisoners’ rights and advocacy for vulnerable groups. She has worked closely with the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company, a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Complex.
Sepideh Gholian was arrested on 12 December 2025 together with five other human rights defenders: Narges Mohammadi, Alieh Motalebzadeh, Hasti Amiri, Pouran Nazemi, and Javad AliKordi. They were arrested during a memorial ceremony marking the seventh day after the death of human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikurdi in Mashhad. Reportedly, security forces used excessive force during their arrest. Following her arrest, she was held in a detention facility of the Ministry of Intelligence for 67 days, where she developed severe gastrointestinal complications, before being transferred to Vakilabad Prison.
On 13 February 2026, the woman human rights defender was orally informed in Vakilabad Prison that she had been sentenced to five years imprisonment. The defender did accept the oral announcement and asked to see the verdict. On 17 February 2026, Branch One of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court handed down the sentences of five years imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against internal and external security” and ten months imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against state.”
Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code outlines the sentencing rules for multiple concurrent crimes. Under this article, if an individual is convicted of three or more crimes that are punishable by ta'zir (discretionary punishments), the court will issue the maximum penalty for each offense. However, the convict is only required to serve the most severe of those punishments. Thus, in application of Article 134, the woman human rights defender has to serve the most severe of those punishments, in this case, four and a half years in prison.
On 30 May 2026, Sepideh Gholian was released from prison. Upon her release, the judge overseeing her case informed her that the remaining four and a half years of her prison sentence, on the ground of “assembly and collusion” and “propaganda against the state,” would be suspended for five years. She was released after completing the custodial six month term of her sentence, while the suspended sentence remains in effect. The initial verdict also includes additional punishment notably for her research related to “the situation of nomads in Khuzestan province before and after the Islamic revolution in 1978 in Iran,” and a two-year travel ban.
After her release, Sepideh Gholian visited the grave site of Khosrow Alikurdi, a prominent human rights lawyer who represented numerous political prisoners and government critics. In a statement published following her release, Sepideh Gholian wrote that she travelled directly from the prison to Alikurdi's grave. She also stated that her arrest at the memorial ceremony and the authorities' actions would not deter her pursuit of truth and justice. She also called for attention to the situation of prisoners who remain in Vakilabad Prison.
Sepideh Gholian has faced repeated arrests and imprisonments in connection with her civil and political activities. Prior to the most recent detention, she was imprisoned for two years in Evin Prison until her release in June 2025. The violent arrests, violation of prisoners’ rights, and torture and ill-treatment of Sepideh Gholian reflect the increasing reprisals against human rights defenders in Iran, notably since the armed conflict in the Middle East in June 2025.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of Sepideh Gholian but remains concerned by the continued judicial harassment of human rights defenders and civil society activists in Iran.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Iran to:
- Immediately drop all charges against Sepideh Gholian, as it appears that she was arrested and detained solely due to her legitimate human rights work;
- Cease targeting human rights defenders, and guarantee that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisal and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
