Roozbeh Gilasyan

Rouzbeh Gilasian, a writer and researcher from Gorgan, was sentenced to four years in prison by the Bandar Abbas Revolutionary Court on charges of “educational activities and promoting ideas deemed deviant or contrary to Islamic law.”

According to Radio Zamaneh, the origins of the writer’s new case date back to the arrest of several social activists in Bandar Abbas in August 2025, amid the aftermath of the 12-day war. During their interrogations, the detainees spoke about reading works published on the Telegram channel “Archive of Rouzbeh Gilasian’s Writings.” Security agencies used this as the basis for bringing charges against the researcher, even though the majority of the writings cited in the case consist of his published works from 2010 to 2017.

Gilasian currently works as a permanent employee of the Golestan Province Department of Education. He has previously faced judicial proceedings and imprisonment. In December 2015, he and Elaheh Soroush-Nia were arrested for holding book-reading sessions at their home in Gorgan. At the time, the arrests drew a reaction and protest from the Iranian Writers Association.

In that case, the Gorgan Revolutionary Court sentenced Gilasian to four years in prison on charges including forming a “pseudo-association called Gorgan Hangout.” The Court of Appeals ultimately reduced his sentence to one year in prison, which was carried out in February 2018 at Amirabad Prison in Gorgan.