Dear Mr Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,
I am writing to express grave concerns about at least 30 individuals who are facing the death penalty in
relation to alleged offences committed in the context of the January 2026 protests, according to information
gathered by Amnesty International. They include eight people sentenced to death within weeks of their arrests
– Saleh Mohammadi, 18, Mohammad Amin Biglari, 19, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein
Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, Shahab Zohdi and Yaser Rajaifar. Others being tried in fast-tracked
grossly unfair proceedings for capital offences include Mohammad Abbasi, 55; Mohammadreza Tabary and
three friends: 18-year-old Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou and two 17-year-old children, Matin Mohammadi
and Erfan Amiri, who as children must be excluded from the imposition of the death penalty under
international law. On 12 February 2026, a Revolutionary Court judge in Tehran told 14 others, including
protester Abolfazl Karimi, 35, that “they are being sentenced to death”. The organization has also learned
that 18-year-old Danial Niazi has been charged with a capital offence. Interrogators told two others – Shervin
Bagherian Jebeli, 18, and Amirhossein Azarpira, 24 – that they will face the death penalty. Amnesty
International believes the real number of those at risk is much higher as authorities systematically warn
families against speaking out, deny those detained access to lawyers during investigations and refuse to
recognize lawyers appointed by families in trial proceedings.
Amnesty International’s research shows that the authorities have systematically subjected those arrested in
connection to the protests to enforced disappearance, incommunicado detention, and torture and other
ill-treatment to extract forced “confessions”. An informed source reported that security forces severely beat
Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou and placed a gun in his mouth. According to informed sources, Abolfazl Karimi
was beaten and denied care for metal pellet injuries sustained during the protests, Saleh Mohammadi
sustained fractures in his hand, and Amirhossein Azarpira sustained facial injuries and broken teeth as a
result of beatings. Some of those at risk of the death penalty are facing the vague and broadly worded charge
of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), based on accusations of setting Basij bases on fire or assaulting
security forces. Others have been accused of killing security personnel. The authorities have broadcast forced
“confessions” of several individuals among the 30, violating the presumption of innocence. In a propaganda
video portraying Shervin Bagherian Jebeli as guilty of killing agents, the 18-year-old is heard asking what
“enmity against God” means, highlighting his vulnerability without access to a lawyer, and he pleads for
mercy after the interrogator tells him the charge carries the death penalty.
I urge you to immediately quash the convictions and death sentences; refrain from imposing death sentences
and ensure that anyone charged with a recognizable criminal offence is tried in accordance with international
fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty and excluding statements obtained under torture
and other ill-treatment or without a lawyer present. I also urge you to release all those detained solely for
exercising their human rights including the right of peaceful assembly and expression; protect all detainees
from torture and other ill-treatment and investigate claims; disclose the fate and whereabouts of individuals
forcibly disappeared; grant access to families, lawyers of their own choosing, adequate defence facilities and
medical care; and allow international monitors, including UN Special Procedures and International FactFinding Mission on Iran, access to detention facilities and trial sessions.
Lisätietoa
On 18 January 2026, the spokesperson of the judiciary, Asghar Jahangir, labelled protesters “criminals” who must
receive “the maximum punishment [death penalty] for “enmity against God” in the “shortest possible time.”
Saleh Mohammadi was sentenced to death by Criminal Court One in Qom on 4 February 2026, less than three
weeks after his arrest on 15 January 2026 in connection with the death of an agent during protests in Qom on 8
January 2026, an accusation he denies. The verdict, reviewed by Amnesty International, shows that he retracted
his “confessions” in court saying they were extracted under torture, but the court dismissed this without any
investigation. He is held in Qom prison. Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani,
Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, Shahab Zohdi and Yaser Rajaifar were sentenced to death for
“enmity against God” (moharebeh) by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for allegedly setting a Basij
base on fire. Their sentences were issued on 9 February 2026, less than a month after arrest in January 2026. An
informed source said Mohammad Amin Biglari was forcibly disappeared for several weeks before being moved to
Ghezel Hesar prison in Alborz province.
Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou, Matin Mohammadi and Erfan Amiri are undergoing trial before Branch 26 of the
Revolutionary Court of Tehran. On 14 February 2026, state media announced their trial, and published a video
showing Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou in a courtroom responding to questions from a judge who presumed his
guilt, and “confessing” to making and throwing Molotov cocktails. All three are accused of involvement in setting a
mosque, used as a Basiji base, on fire during the protests in Pakdasht, Tehran province, on 8 January 2026,
leading to the deaths of two Basiji agents. An informed source said that Basiji agents arrested the teenagers on 8
January 2026 before the incident, and that Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou made forced “confessions” after severe
beatings and death threats at gunpoint. According to the source, the presiding judge refused to allow at least three
defence lawyers chosen by Ehsan Hosseinipour Hessarlou’s family to represent him and threatened them. The
source added that authorities assigned him a state appointed lawyer for the trial stage who failed to defend him in
court. His 17-year-old friends and co-defendants are held in a juvenile correction centre in Tehran province and
are also facing capital charges. International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for those aged under 18 at
the time of the alleged offence.
Abolfazl Karimi is undergoing a fast-tracked, torture-tainted grossly unfair trial before Branch 15 of the
Revolutionary Court in Tehran in a case with 13 other defendants also arrested in connection with the uprising. An
informed source said Abolfazl Karimi was arrested in Tehran on 6 January 2026 after attempting to assist two
women who had been shot in their legs. According to the source, agents shot him with metal pellets and then
arrested him along with the two women. The source said that after his arrest, Abolfazl Karimi was subjected to
torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings and the deliberate denial of medical care for his metal
pellet injuries, and was forced to sign self-incriminating statements while blindfolded. According to information
gathered by Amnesty International, around 12 February 2026, the presiding judge of Branch 15 of the
Revolutionary Court told Abolfazl Karimi and the 13 others during an online session that they “were being
sentenced to death”. The nature of the charges brought against the 14 individuals and the stage of the
proceedings against them remain unclear to Amnesty International. Abolfazl Karimi is held in Ghezel Hesar prison.
Mohammad Abbasi is undergoing trial before a Revolutionary Court of Tehran in connection to the fatal assault of
a police agent on 7 January 2026 during protests in Malard, Tehran province. According to state media, he was
arrested less than 10 days after the incident and his trial started on 27 January 2026. State media published a
video of the trial session, along with a narrative violating his right to presumption of innocence. In the video, a
representative of the police is seen questioning him in a manner that presumes his guilt. He is shown “confessing”
while no lawyer is shown intervening or representing his interests. Shervin Bagherian Jebeli was arrested in
Esfahan, Esfahan province, on 12 January 2026 after security forces raided his home at night, beating and
transferring him to an unidentified location, according to an informed source. A week later, while forcibly
disappeared, state media aired a propaganda video portraying him as guilty of killing four Basiji agents during
protests in Esfahan on 8 January 2026, which he denies. The source said authorities have subjected him to
severe beatings, denied him access to a lawyer, and told him he faces the death penalty. On 3 February 2026, he
was transferred to Dastgerd prison in Esfahan. Danial Niazi was violently arrested in Shirvan, Khorasan Razavi
province, on 12 January 2026. An informed source said that he was forced to “confess” under torture within 24
hours of his arrest. Amirhossein Azarpira, arrested in Zarinshahr, Esfahan province, on 27 January 2026, has
been also threatened with the death penalty by interrogators.