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| Vahid Faizpur and Behzad Suleymanpur |
An Iranian criminal court has sentenced two defenders of Urmia Lake to 50 lashes and a fine of 500,000 tomans on charges of participating in mass protests held in Urmia city in August 2011.
According to Azerbaijani news websites, including Oyan News, Behzad Suleymanpur and Vahid Faizpur were arrested following the mass protests about Urmia Lake in August 2011, interrogated for a period in the Etemad detention center, and later temporarily released on heavy bail.
A court document signed by Judge Ali Novbakht, published by Oyan News, states that the main charge against the two activists was participating in protests held in Urmia on August 5, 2011.
"According to the reports prepared by the security services, after the Iranian Parliament rejected a project related to Urmia Lake, 30-year-old Behzad Suleymanpur and 25-year-old Vahid Faizpur participated in pre-planned illegal demonstrations," the court ruling reads.
Judge Novbakht also accused the two Urmia activists of participating in “illegal ceremonies” in other regions of Azerbaijan and maintaining contact with "Pan-Turkists" from Ardabil.
Both activists have faced repeated arrests, persecution, and trials for their cultural activities in recent years.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Urmiyə gölü müdafiəçilərinə 50 zərbə şallaq cəzası