An Iranian appeals court has upheld a 13-year prison sentence handed to Mahsa Yazdani, the mother of a young man killed during the last year's nationwide unrest, after being convicted on charges including "propaganda against the system" and "insulting the leader" for comments she made on social media over the killing of her son by government forces.

Meisam Mousavi, Yazdani’s lawyer, confirmed that the sentence was communicated to his client on November 19.

The sentence underscores the Iranian regime's unrelenting stance against criticism related to the protests, which erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini's death, under disputed circumstances while in police custody, sparked widespread outrage and demonstrations against the government's policies, particularly those concerning women's rights and overall freedoms.

Yazdani's son, Mohammad Javad Zahedi, was 20 years old when he was fatally shot by government forces in the northern city of Sari. Following his death, Yazdani expressed her grief on social media, writing, "I am broken, this loss has driven me insane, a curse on the entire regime."

Zahedi was one of hundreds of casualties during protests that erupted following the death of Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained for an alleged head-scarf violation. The Human Rights Activists News Agency says more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Tensions between the government and the families of those killed or arrested in the nationwide protests have been on the rise in recent weeks after the first anniversary of the deaths of many protesters, as well as Amini.

The government has been accused of stepping up the pressure on the victims' families through collective arrests and the summoning of grieving families by security agencies with the aim of keeping them from commemorating the deaths of their loved ones, which the government fears will trigger more unrest.

The treatment of the victims' graves has added to the families' anguish. Gravesites, including that of Amini, have been repeatedly vandalized, an act that further highlights the government's attempts to suppress dissent and control the narrative surrounding the protests.

International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned Iran's actions.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, criticized the Iranian authorities' efforts to obstruct justice and exacerbate the suffering of the families of the deceased, describing their actions as having "no bounds."

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda