🔻The European Union has sanctioned five Iranian judges and an “hacker”

🔻The European Union has sanctioned five Iranian judges and an “hacker”

The Council of the European Union placed six Iranians, whom it says were involved in “serious violations of human rights,” on its sanctions list.

The council has put five judges from Iran’s Revolutionary Courts into this list, who it says were involved in the trial of religious minorities and political opponents.

According to the Council of Europe, these judges tried detainees based on vague charges related to national security, as well as religious charges, including those brought against Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The institution added that, in Iran, the Revolutionary Courts have sentenced political opponents and human-rights activists—particularly after the protests known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement—to death, long prison terms, flogging, fines, or additional punishments.

The protests began in September 1401 with the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in custody of the Guidance Patrol (Gasht-e Ershad) and quickly spread to many cities, both small and large, across Iran.

The Council of Europe also sanctioned a person named “Nima Salehi,” an Iranian computer engineer and hacker, whom they say is the founder and one of the main members of the cyber group “Ashiyaneh.”

The Council of Europe says this group of digital security works closely with Iran’s FATA Police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is responsible for extensive cyberattacks against domestic opponents and reformists, as well as foreign institutions, and helps the Iranian government in suppressing opponents.

With this decision, the number of individuals and entities covered by the European Union’s human-rights sanctions against Iran reached 269 individuals and 53 entities. These sanctions include the freezing of assets, a travel ban to European Union countries, and a ban on providing financial resources to the listed individuals and entities.