Supreme Court of Iran Upholds Death Sentence for Reza Rasaei

The Supreme Court of Iran has recently affirmed the death sentence for Reza Rasaei (Rasaie), arrested in connection with the 2022 nationwide protests.

In October of this year, Rasaei was condemned to death for his alleged involvement in the killing of Nader Beyrami, the head of IRGC Intelligence, during the protests in Sahneh County, Kermanshah province.

A family member of Rasaei, who spoke to HRANA, confirmed that Judge Barani presided over the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the death sentence. Notably, the court’s ruling appears to have been influenced by a confession obtained under duress during Rasaei’s detention.

In addition to the capital punishment, Rasaei faces other charges, including non-fatal injury, threatening with a knife, and disturbing public order by causing unrest. Initially, he received additional penalties such as Diya (wergild), a year sentence, and 74 lashes.

Rasaei was apprehended on November 24, 2022, by the police and subsequently detained in Sahneh County. Following the completion of the interrogation process, he was transferred to Dizel-Abad prison in Kermanshah.

Several other protesters involved in the November 18, 2022 demonstration are also confronting charges related to their alleged role in the death of the IRGC’s intelligence officer. This protest resulted in the deaths of several protestors at the hands of police and security forces.

Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei, aged 34, is known as a Yarsan follower and resides in Sahneh County.

Sajjad Iman-Nejad Receives an Eleven-Year Prison Sentence

The Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced Sajjad Iman-Nejad to eleven years in prison for his alleged involvement in the 2022 nationwide protests. In addition, he has been ordered to pay a wergild (Diya) of 2.7 billion tomans (approximately 54,000 dollars).

The ruling, issued by Judge Mohammad-Reza Amuzad, who presided over the court, is as follows: ten years of imprisonment in exile in Iranshahr County for “enmity against God (Moharebeh)” and one year in prison, including the detention period, for “assault with a cold weapon.” Iman-Nejad is also required to pay a 2.7 billion tomans wergild to seven plaintiffs, all of whom are police officers.

A source close to Iman-Nejad’s family has revealed that three out of the seven plaintiffs confessed that Iman-Nejad never physically assaulted them, but they are unwilling to withdraw their complaints.

“Iman-Nejad is suffering from a lumbar disc issue, for which he had to be hospitalized several times during detention. However, he did not receive medical care in the hospital under the excuse of a lack of available beds. Currently, prison officials have refused to transfer him to an external hospital. The lumbar disc problem has made enduring incarceration extremely challenging for him.”

Iman-Nejad, a 32-year-old resident of Tehran originally from Ardabil and a graduate in architecture, was arrested by security forces in Tehran on October 8, 2022, and subsequently transferred to the Great Tehran Penitentiary. After some time, he was relocated to Evin Prison.

Two Inmates Executed in Isfahan and Neyshabur Prisons

On December 6, two inmates were executed in Neyshabur and Isfahan prisons.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Human Rights Organization, 34 year old Ahmad Tavakoli was executed in Isfahan Prison. He had been convicted of drug-related crimes and imprisoned for four years.

On the same day, 24 year old Ali-Akbar Mohammadi was executed in Neyshabur Prison. He had been convicted of murder during a street fight.

In order to spare Mohammadi’s life by compensating the family of the victim, people in Shahroud City collected 4 billion tomans (951,820 USD), but this fell short of the 5 billion tomans (1,189,775 USD) requested by the family. Despite delivering the money to court, the execution was carried out after a month. The money has not yet been returned. 

As an inmate on death row, Mohammdi has spent five years in prison and has been sent to the foot of the gallows four times.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities do not publicly announce over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are known as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.