Mansoureh Behkish

Mansoureh Behkish, an Iranian human rights activist, was released in Tehran on 20 May 2026. She had been arrested on 18 May 2026. Her legal challenges have been ongoing for several years. In February 2018, she was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for charges including "propaganda against the state" and "collusion against the country". This sentence was in addition to a previous four and a half year sentence from 2011 for "assembling and conspiring with the intent to harm national security" and "propaganda against the system".

Behkish's legal issues date back to 8 January 2011, when she was arrested along with thirty-three grieving mothers in Laleh Park. These individuals were part of a group of families of victims of executions and repression from the 1980s to the present. She was released after a few days but was arrested again on 12 June 2011 in Tehran and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. After a month, she was temporarily released on bail until her court hearing. On 7 December 2011, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to four and a half years in prison for assembly and collusion against the regime through forming the group of grieving mothers and propaganda against the regime, although she was not imprisoned at that time.