Raheleh Rahemipour
Age: 73
Activism/rights: Justice-seeking family
Status: Released on parole
Judicial sentence: 4 years and 2 months’ imprisonment
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of a fair trial and due process; denial of access to a lawyer; denial of medical care
Raheleh Rahemipour is a justice-seeking sister and aunt who has pursued the fate of her brother, Hossein Rahemipour, and the enforced disappearance of her niece, Golrou Rahemipour. Hossein Rahemipour was executed in 1984 for membership of the "Worker's Way Organisation” during the 1988 Massacre. Hossein’s pregnant wife was arrested alongside him, and their child, Golrou, was born in Evin Prison. Prison authorities separated Golrou from her mother on the pretext that she was suffering from jaundice and informed the family two days later that the child had died. Golrou's body was never returned to the family. In March 2016, Raheleh Rahemipour filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, seeking clarification of the fate of Golrou.¹³³ In February 2017, Raheleh was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the system” by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by "Death Judge" Salavati. This sentence was commuted on 29 January 2019 by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeal to a fine of eighty million rials,¹³⁴ with her lawyer served on 14 April 2019.
On 12 November 2019, Raheleh was arrested at the “Laleh Park Assembly” of justice-seeking families, transferred to Ward 2A of Evin Prison, and later released on bail. On 16 June 2020, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Rahemipour to six years and four months’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the system”. On 18 November 2023, she was arrested after appearing at the Evin Prosecutor’s Office and transferred to Evin Prison to serve the sentence. After an appeal on March 2025, her sentence was reduced to four years and two months’ imprisonment.
Raheleh suffers from multiple serious medical conditions, including a brain tumour, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, joint pain, cataracts, and thalassaemia minor. According to the Legal Medicine Organisation, she was deemed unfit to serve a prison sentence and required immediate transfer outside prison for medical treatment.¹³⁵ Nevertheless, she was deprived of medical care for an extended period and, despite the deterioration of her health, her requests for furlough were denied.
Following Israel’s attack on Evin Prison in July 2025, Raheleh was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. She was later granted furlough, and was released on bail in October 2025.