An Iranian court in the eastern Kurdish city of Seqiz has sentenced Jina Amini's uncle to prison, said the UK-based Center for Human Rights Defenders. The total sentence of five years, four months and 17 days in prison imposed on Safa Aeli is made up of several individual sentences and is related to the “Jin Jiyan Azadî” revolution. The judiciary accuses him of acts against national security, propaganda against the regime and insulting the Supreme Leader.

Safa Aeli was arrested by regime forces in Seqiz on 5 September 2023, shortly before the first anniversary of the death of his niece Jina Amini, whose death in police custody sparked an unprecedented popular uprising. The officers arrived in a convoy of five vehicles to remove the 30-year-old and take him to an unknown location. No reasons were given for the arrest, and there was no warrant against Aeli. It was only days later that it became known that he was being held in inhumane conditions in the central prison in the city of Sine (Sanandaj). Aeli was released on bail in mid-October.

Aeli's arrest came amid an extreme wave of intimidation targeting relatives of Jina Amini and relatives of people murdered by the regime during the "Jin Jiyan Azadî" demonstrations. The Iranian regime took particularly tough action against families who, despite threats and intimidation, announced funeral ceremonies for their murdered children. The fact that relatives of the murdered are prevented from mourning in this way is a tried and tested instrument of oppression of the Iranian regime.

Since under Iranian law, if you are sentenced to multiple prison terms, you only have to serve the maximum sentence, Safa Aeli will spend three and a half years in prison if the sentence becomes final. In addition, the court also imposed a two-year travel ban and a ban on expressing his views on the “Jin Jiyan Azadi” movement.