Judiciary's Claim: Death Sentence of Mahaan Sadrat Madani, Young Protester, Changed

Simultaneously with widespread domestic and international reactions to the execution of Mohammad Qabadelu and Farhad Salimi, the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic claimed on Tuesday, January 23, that the death sentence of Mahaan Sadrat Madani, a young protester, has been overturned and changed to 16 years in prison and exile. According to the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Judiciary, this detained protester in Tehran has been sentenced to 16 years in prison and exile in Kalibar prison in East Azerbaijan province, of which 10 years is executable upon confirmation. According to Mizan, Mahaan Sadrat Madani has been sentenced to 10 years in exile for 'Moharebeh' (waging war against God), 5 years for 'conspiracy and collusion against national security', and 1 year for 'propaganda against the regime'. Based on a report from the Dabban legal consulting and training center, the judiciary has accused Mahaan Sadrat Madani, born in 1999, of 'possessing a knife and engaging in a confrontation with an officer'. Meanwhile, Dabban reported, citing Mahaan's father, that this protester has repeatedly emphasized in court that he did not have a knife. The Supreme Court accepted the request for retrial of Mahaan Sadrat Madani's case on December 21, 2022. The overturning of this protester's death sentence by the Supreme Court and the referral of his case to a parallel court comes at a time when Mohammad Qabadelu, a bipolar disorder patient and imprisoned protester, was executed on Tuesday, January 23, despite widespread opposition from civil activists and human rights organizations. The Iranian judiciary has executed 9 protesters so far, including Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Mohammad Hosseini, Saeed Yaqoubi, Saleh Mirhashimi, Majid Kazemi, Milad Zahrawand, and Mohammad Qabadelu. Amnesty International states that Iranian officials use the death penalty as a 'tool to suppress minorities, protesters, and opponents'. Recently, Abram Paley, the Deputy Special Representative of the United States for Iran, described the execution of Iranian citizens following 'unfair trials and arbitrary detentions' as a sign of the Iranian regime's 'cruelty' and emphasized that the United States strongly condemns the Islamic Republic's use of the death penalty to counter human rights violations. Amnesty International has called for 'immediate action' to stop executions in Iran. The Supreme Court did not confirm the death sentence of Mahaan Sadrat; the case is under review in a parallel court. A human rights organization warned of the 'risk of execution' for 39 detained protesters.