Iranian Protester Who Lost Eye In 2022 Protests Sentenced To Prison

Hossein Hosseinpour, a young protestor who lost an eye after being shot by security forces during a crackdown on 2022 protests, has been sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the sentence was reduced to 11 months after Hosseinpour agreed not to appeal the verdict.

The report said that the sentence was issued on the charge of "propaganda against the regime" and is related to posts he shared on social media.

Hosseinpour was shot in the right eye with a shotgun pellet during the nationwide protests in Mahabad in October 2022. He has undergone four surgeries so far.

In early September 2023, he was arrested by intelligence agents. After the interrogation process in the Soroush detention center in Shiraz, he was transferred to the Adel Abad prison in the same city.

In late January 2024, he was transferred to Shiraz Prison No. 2, also known as the Nezam prison. He has reportedly contracted an eye infection during his detention and continues to be denied medical care.

In recent months, there have been reports of arrests of or summonses to protesters who lost their eyes in the 2022-2023 protests. According to these reports, Amir Shahvelayati and Matin Hasani, two protesters who lost their eyes in the protests, were arrested in Tehran and Bukan, in West Azarbaijan, in January. Also, Mahbano (Kosar) Khoshnoudi, another protester who lost an eye in the nationwide protests, reported that she had been repeatedly summoned by security forces.