First Arrest

Shahin Barzegar was first arrested in 2018, while he was completing his military service, after attending the funeral of Hasan Demirchi, a Turkish Azeri poet, writer and activist.

Hasan Demirchi was born in 1941 and died on June 24, 2018 in Tabriz. Demirchi was also known as Hasan Azerbaijan because of his extensive activities promoting and advocating for the National Movement of Azerbaijan, a separatist movement within Iran that aims to create an independent state for Turkish Azeris in the country's north-west. Many Turkish Azeri activists, including Shahin Barzegar, attended his funeral.

Barzegar was sentenced to three months imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the state” and was later released from detention on bail.

Barzegar’s appeal against the court’s initial ruling was unsuccessful and the Court of Appeals for East Azerbaijan province upheld the lower court’s ruling.

Shahin Barzegar was transferred to Tabriz Prison on January 30, 2019 to serve his three-month prison sentence. But he was released early following a general amnesty on February 10, 2019, after having served only 11 days in prison.

Second Arrest

In November 2019, while he was still carrying out his military service, Barzegar was arrested at his father’s house despite not having attended the nationwide protests at that time. The November 2019 protests were initially sparked by the government's decision to suddenly increase gasoline prices throughout Iran. But as the protests grew, they addressed wider anti-government and economic grievances. The protests resulted in thousands of deaths and arrests.

After being interrogated in a security detention center for 77 days, Barzegar was transferred to Tabriz Prison where he was detained for 21 days. Eventually, on February 24, 2020, Barzegar was released from prison on bail of 600 million tomans until the end of the legal proceedings against him.

Shahin Barzegar’s legal case was referred to court on June 9, 2020. He faced charges in two branches, with “disturbing the public order and peace” in Branch 112 of the Criminal Courts of Tabriz, presided over by Judge Piri, an with “membership in the illegal group, the ‘South Azerbaijan National Liberation Front (GAMAC) [a Turkish Azeri separatist group]’” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran” in Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Courts of Tabriz, presided over by Judge Rahim Hamlbar.

According to the court’s verdict issued on July 11, 2020, Shahin Barzegar was sentenced to a year imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran” and acquitted on two other accusations.

An excerpt of the court's verdict reads: “According to the report from the General Intelligence Office of the province, the defendant intentionally posted a number of separatist images and symbols on his Instagram page, he also published pictures of ethnic [Turkish Azeri] prisoners demanding their release, despite the aforementioned individuals having been convicted for the same charge by a military tribunal. He has persisted in committing these violations repeatedly.”

On August 28, 2020, Branch 28 of the Court of Appeals of East Azerbaijan province reduced the sentence of the trial court, replacing the three months imprisonment with a 3 million toman fine.

A part of the verdict of the Court of Appeals, published by HRANA, read: “Considering the case, and the fact that the issued verdict was based on the relevant laws, and that Article 434 of the Punishment Reduction Law is not applicable to the defendants appeal, finally the court, based on Article 2 of the Punishment Reduction Law, reduced the sentence to three months and based on Article 37 of the same law, in compliance with Articles 64 and 67, paragraph C of Article 83 and paragraph C of Article 86 of the Islamic Penal Code converted the imprisonment to a fine of 30 million rials instead of three months imprisonment, taking into account the days of previous detention, and while rejecting the appeal based on Article 455 of the Criminal Law, approves the verdict as described above. This verdict is final."

Third Arrest

Barzegar was arrested by security forces on July 22, 2021, and was released on bail on August 14, 2021. His case was filed in Branch 15 of the Tabriz Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on charges of "inviting people to riot through the internet." His final defense session was held in late September 2021.

Based on the available information, this case is related to the gathering of Tabriz citizens in support of the protests in Khuzestan province because of the water crisis in mid-July.

Nader Sadeghian, Yousef Salahshour, Mohammad Mardi, Vahid Abhari and Amir Sattari Raouf, were Turkish Azeri activists charged with similar crimes in this case.

According to a notice issued by Branch 111 of the Second Criminal Court of Tabriz on October 20, 2021, Barzegar was due to appear in this branch on October 31, 2021 to respond to these charges.