The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Mehrab Abdollazadeh, a political prisoner who was detained during the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, raising fears that his execution could be imminent.
Branch Nine of the Supreme Court confirmed the ruling issued by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh in West Azerbaijan Province in October 2024, which sentenced Abdollazadeh to death on charges of “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fil-arz) through alleged “involvement in the premeditated murder” of a Basij member.
A source familiar with the case told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): “On Thursday, 18 December 2025, the judge responsible for the enforcement of sentences at Branch Nine of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Orumiyeh informed Mehrab Abdollazadeh that Branch Nine of the Supreme Court had upheld his death sentence, asking him to sign a letter requesting pardon and clemency.”
The source expressed concern over the risk of execution in the coming days and added that, in recent years, political prisoners have commonly been asked to submit requests for pardon and clemency to the provincial commission shortly before execution.
The same procedure was followed two weeks earlier in the case of Aghil Keshavarz, a student from Isfahan who was executed on 19 December at Orumiyeh Central Prison.
Background
Abdollazadeh, born on 15 March 1998 in Orumiyeh, arrested by security forces on 22 October 2022 during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising.
He was detained at his workplace, a barbershop, by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and transferred to the agency’s detention centre, where he was subjected to 38 days of physical and psychological torture in an attempt to force him to confess to participating in protests and to the killing of a Basij member.
However, footage of the incident in the possession of the security forces does not show Abdollahzadeh at the scene, and he has consistently denied any involvement in the killing.
Only under pressure stemming from the arrest of his girlfriend and threats to detain other family members, he was coerced into accepting the interrogators’ narrative and stating that he had punched and kicked the Basij member during the incident.
According to the source, “Mehrab denied all charges throughout the interrogations and in court, and even requested that the location data from his mobile phone be examined to prove that he was not present at the scene of the killing. During the first 38 days of his detention, despite repeated inquiries by his family to the security and judicial authorities in Orumiyeh, they received no information about his fate. Throughout this period, he was denied family visits and access to a lawyer.”
Regarding the judicial process, the source said: “After the interrogations ended, he was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison. His case was initially referred to Branch Seven of the Investigative Office of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Soltanzadeh, and after the indictment was issued, it was sent to Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh for final trial. Following three trial sessions, two held by video link and one in person, he was sentenced to death within minutes and without being allowed to defend himself. The verdict was issued on 19 September 2024 and communicated to him in prison a month later, on 21 October 2024.”
After his lawyers filed an appeal, the case was referred to the Supreme Court, which sent it to its ninth branch in February 2025.
