Human Rights Defenders Center Reports Death Sentence for Another Detainee from 2022 Protests

On Sunday, April 1, the Human Rights Defenders Center announced that Shahryar Bayat, 64, a detainee from the nationwide protests of 2022 in Shahryar, has been sentenced to death by Branch 13 of the Tehran Court for the charge of 'Sabb al-Nabi' (insulting the Prophet). According to Article 262 of the Islamic Penal Code, anyone who insults the Prophet of Islam or other great prophets is accused of 'Sabb al-Nabi' and can be sentenced to death. On September 2, 2023, Shahryar Bayat, along with Zartosht Ahmadinejad, Mohsen Ghiyasi, and Ali Rezaei, sent a letter from Evin Prison, a copy of which reached Voice of America, expressing their continued solidarity with the people of Iran and emphasizing the need for unity, the rule of the people and law, and holding free elections until a democratic society is established in Iran. According to the Human Rights Defenders Center, the Tehran Criminal Court cited social media posts attributed to Shahryar Bayat as evidence for the charge of 'Sabb al-Nabi' and issued his death sentence based on that. Following the news, Arash Sadeghi, a human rights activist on 'X', wrote: 'During the protests of 2022, I was cellmates with Mr. Shahryar Bayat in Ward 209. During interrogations, several images and posts attributed to him were presented, which he denied, emphasizing that he had not produced any content and that these pages were not related to him.' The legal advisory group 'Dadban' also wrote on the social media platform X that Branch 13 of the Tehran Criminal Court had previously ruled with a 'minority opinion' that the necessity of issuing and enforcing the death penalty against Shahryar Bayat was negated due to his repeated repentance before the court and earlier in the prosecutor's office, and had voted for a reduction of his death sentence. Shahryar Bayat was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on October 25, 2022, in Shahryar and was initially transferred to Greater Tehran Prison and later to Gohardasht Prison in Karaj. This political prisoner faced charges such as Sabb al-Nabi, insulting sacred beliefs, propaganda against the regime, corruption on earth, insulting Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, insulting Ruhollah Khomeini, forming a group with the intent to disrupt national security, and insulting Shia Imams at the time of his arrest. The nationwide protests in Iran began in response to the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by morality police in Tehran in September 2022 and quickly spread throughout Iran. These protests were violently suppressed by government forces, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of protesters and the arrest of tens of thousands more. The judiciary executed at least nine protesters, including Mohsen Shakari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Hosseini, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi, Saleh Mirhashimi, Milad Zohrevand, and Mohammad Qabadlu, in connection with this revolutionary uprising.