Wrongfully imprisoned: Free Homayoun Sabetara

On March 14, 2025, a significant hearing will take place before a higher Greek court in the case of Homayoun Sabetara. He was originally sentenced to 18 years in prison in an unfair trial in Thessaloniki after he was forced to drive a car with 7 other people. His conviction was based on the testimony of a single witness who never appeared in court. In September 24, Homayoun Sabetara's sentence was reduced on appeal to 7 years and 4 months, allowing him to leave prison after 3 years. However, his acquittal is still pending. The lawyer Harris Ladies, together with the #FreeHomayoun campaign, will continue to pursue the case until Homayoun's acquittal. It is clear that no European court will support this judgment. We need money again to cover the next court costs of €6,500. More information can be found here: https://www.betterplace.me/until-acquittal-free-homayoun-sabetara

Dear supporters of the #FreeHomayoun campaign, It is three days before Homayoun's second appeal hearing. We’re all back in Thessaloniki to stand with him in court. Originally, Homayoun's hearing was scheduled for April 2024, but as you might already know, the court decided to postpone the trial, and Homayoun was sent back to prison for another five times. The mountain of injustice he has been enduring for over three years keeps growing larger and larger. Here in Thessaloniki, many local activists have organized events in solidarity with Homayoun and others criminalized for border crossing — events also made possible by your donations! So, three days before the trial… or 300 days? We don’t know yet. Homayoun does not know yet. Chances are the court will find new reasons on Tuesday to postpone the hearing once again, as this is common practice. What may seem like a casual decision by the judges is nothing less than psychological torture for the imprisoned. Homayoun’s trials have been postponed a total of five times, sometimes for months. His physical and mental health is worsening with each postponement, and we are deeply worried about his current state. But where there is solidarity, there is hope! Homayoun always tells Mahtab how deeply touched he is by all the support he’s receiving from you! Thank you all for standing by him through all this time. Please continue sharing Homayoun's story with your friends and families, and ask them to donate if they can. It’s always uncomfortable to ask for money, but we still haven’t covered all the costs. These days, we gain nearly 100 new followers each day—can we make it to 100 new donations by the court date? Take care, and don’t forget: Solidarity wins. Always. Yours, Mahtab, Anne, Hannah, Afsoon, and Kiana from #FreeHomayoun

*german below* Dear supporters, We from the #FreeHomayoun campaign have two countdowns running: The first countdown counts down the days until Homayoun's second appeal trial, after the first was postponed under flimsy pretexts. Exactly 64 days to go. Once again, we will travel to Thessaloniki with dozens of supporters to stand by Homayoun during the trial. Our second countdown doesn't have a specific number. It runs for as long as we need to fight until Homayoun is free. It runs until all people unjustly criminalized for fleeing are freed. Only then will the countdown stop ticking. Will you count with us? **** Liebe Supporter*innen wir von der Kampagne #FreeHomayoun haben 2 Countdowns am Laufen: Der erste Countdown zählt die Tage runter bis Homayouns 2. Berufungsprozess, nachdem der erste unter fadenscheinigen Vorwänden verschoben wurde. Genau 64 Tage. Erneut werden wir mit dutzenden Unterstützer*innen nach Thessalonki fahren, um Homayoun während des Prozesses beizustehen. Unser zweite Countdown hat keine konkrete Zahl. Er läuft so lange, wie wir kämpfen müssen, bis Homayoun frei kommt. Er läuft, bis alle Menschen freikommen, die zu Unrecht auf ihrer Flucht kriminalisiert wurden. Erst dann hört der Countdown auf zu ticken. Mögt ihr mit uns mitzählen?

Dear supporters, tomorrow, our campaign team—Mahtab, Hannah, Kiana, and Anne—are flying to Thessaloniki to prepare ourselves for Homayoun's appeal trial on April 22. We wanted to let you know how grateful we are for your support and donations in the past couple of months. You helped us to gain public and media attention. This time, Homayoun won't be alone in court. Dozens of people, journalists, and trial observers will stand behind him and attend the trial! Please stay tuned for more information. On Friday, we'll have a press conference at 10 am (German time). You can follow our press conference live on Insta: www.instagram.com/freehomayoun. All the best, Mahtab, Kiana, Anne, Hannah