Appeals court sentences Khaf teacher Azadeh Saleki to five years in prison

Hengaw – Sunday, July 5, 2026

Azadeh Saleki, a teacher working in Khaf, has had her prison sentence reduced to five years by the Razavi Khorasan Provincial Court of Appeals. She was arrested during the January protests last year.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the Razavi Khorasan Provincial Court of Appeals overturned Saleki’s initial 10-year prison sentence and sentenced her to a total of five years in prison.

Saleki had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Revolutionary Court. Following an appeal, the sentence was reduced to five years. Under Iran’s sentence consolidation law, the most severe sentence will be enforceable.

The teacher and labor rights activist was arrested by security forces during the January 2026 protests. She was held for about a month under interrogation and in solitary confinement before being temporarily released on bail of 3 billion tomans pending the completion of judicial proceedings.

Saleki had previously faced disciplinary action in 2022 over her critical views and labor rights activities. She was suspended from work for one month and later, as a punitive measure, transferred from Torbat-e Heydarieh to Khaf.