File of One of the Accused in 'Basij Murder' Sent to the Supreme Court

Lawyers of Reza Arya, a detainee arrested during the case of the killing of Rouhollah Ajmiyan in the nationwide protests of 2022, who has been accused of 'moharebeh' (waging war against God), say that the case of this political prisoner has been sent to Branch 9 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic and they are awaiting the court's opinion. According to the newspaper Shargh on Sunday, November 4, Payam Darfashan and Shahla Orooji stated that Reza Arya 'had no weapon' at the time of the incident and only kicked Ajmiyan. The lawyers said that 'he had no intention to kill and no knowledge of the occurrence of the murder' of Rouhollah Ajmiyan, a Basij member and part of the forces suppressing protests in Alborz province on the 40th day of Hadith Najafi, and 'in a moment of excitement, he merely kicked him.' They emphasized that 'it should be noted that Reza Arya had no knowledge that the Basij member would be harmed further and lacked any deliberate intent or even knowledge of the possibility of murder occurring in the future,' which 'will be of special importance in the case.' Payam Darfashan and Shahla Orooji also mentioned that their client, who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in exile for 'moharebeh,' 'committed a non-lethal act' that 'has a specific punishment.' According to the report, Reza Arya's 'young wife and small children' are 'enduring heavy and aggravated punishment along with their father' and 'each time they have to travel on dangerous roads' from 'Karaj to the place of exile prison in Kerman,' putting them 'in great suffering and danger on the roads.' Officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly endangered the lives of family members of political prisoners by exiling them and creating difficulties for their family visits, and in some cases, have caused their deaths. For instance, in 2013, the mother and wife of Peyman (Amirreza) Arefi, a political prisoner exiled to Masjed Soleiman prison, lost their lives in a car accident while returning to Tehran from visiting him. The judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic have also executed two detained protesters, Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, in this case, and the punishments determined for other defendants in this case, including exile and imprisonment for Hossein Mohammadi, Reza Arya, Mehdi Mohammadi, Mohammad Amin Akhlaqi Savojbolaghi, Amin Mehdi Shakrollahi, Farzaneh Ghareh-Hassanlou, and Hamid Ghareh-Hassanlou, are also being carried out. Additionally, it has been reported that the detainees in this case have denied the accusation of killing this Basij member. Furthermore, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has arrested Mashallah Karami, the father of the victim Mohammad Mahdi Karami, along with his lawyer, and this grieving father remains in prison. Iran is one of the top 10 prisons in the world for journalists.