Iranian authorities flogged two women detained during January’s protests 31 times each before transferring them to prison to serve custodial sentences, according to rights groups. Neda Dadehjani and Setayesh (Behnoush) Sarabi were summoned to a court in Qorveh on Saturday, August 22, where they were flogged before being transferred to the women’s ward of Sanandaj Central Prison, according to the Geneva-based Hana Human Rights Organization and Kurdish rights outlet Kolbar News. A criminal court in Qorveh had sentenced each woman to one year in prison, 31 lashes and two years of exile in Nikshahr, in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, after convicting them of “disrupting public peace and order.”
In a separate proceeding, the Qorveh Revolutionary Court sentenced each to another two years in prison for “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against internal security. The two women were first arrested by security forces during the January 2026 protests in Qorveh. Kolbar News said Dadehjani and Sarabi had applied to serve their prison terms under electronic monitoring but received no response before being summoned to court. Dadehjani is an artist, puppeteer, costume designer and theater makeup artist. Hana condemned the flogging as “state torture and a tool for intimidating society” and called for the women’s release and access to independent medical care.
The group also questioned the enforcement of the flogging alongside the prison sentences, arguing that it was inconsistent with Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which governs multiple convictions and sentences. The cases come amid a broader crackdown following the January protests, during which courts have handed down prison terms, flogging, exile and death sentences. Other people detained in connection with the protests have also received flogging sentences in recent weeks, according to rights groups. Iran’s judiciary has used flogging against artists and activists in previous years, including singer Mehdi Yarrahi and campaigner Roya Heshmati, whose sentences were carried out. (Ed note: And President Trump wants to negotiate?) (Source)
