Judiciary's Reaction to Death Sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi, Political Prisoner: The Ruling is Preliminary and Appealable

The judiciary of the Islamic Republic reacted to the issuance of a death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi, one of the detainees from the 2021 protests who has recently been sentenced to death, defending the ruling but stating it is 'appealable' in the Supreme Court. The Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, published a short statement on Tuesday morning denying that the death sentence was issued 'due to activities on social media,' but explained that the content of Mehrabi's case was based on 'publishing materials including instructions for using homemade weapons, inciting destruction of public property, provoking people to war and slaughter, and insulting sacred beliefs.' The judiciary emphasized that Mehrabi's trial was held 'with the presence of two of his lawyers' and also claimed that the 'defendant' has '52 private plaintiffs' who have complained against him for 'spreading falsehoods.' Earlier this week, Mahmoud Mehrabi's defense attorney announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Isfahan had sentenced this political prisoner to death for the charge of 'corruption on earth.' According to the report from the Dabban legal advisors group, Mahmoud Mehrabi has been in prison since Bahman 1401 (January 2023) and was charged with 187 accusations, including 'corruption on earth,' this October. The attribution of the charge 'corruption on earth' and the issuance of the death sentence for this young protester in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan came after his comments were published on social media, including Instagram. Babak Farsani, a lawyer, wrote on Sunday, 16 Ordibehesht, on the social media platform X: 'My client Mahmoud Mehrabi has been sentenced to death by Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan for the charge of corruption on earth.' This lawyer also stated that a 'notification of the ruling without attachments' was observed by his colleague 'during a visit to the branch and reviewing the case.' Babak Farsani expressed hope that 'serious objections to the ruling will be considered by the Supreme Court' of the Islamic Republic. Hajar Mehrabi, Mahmoud Mehrabi's sister, previously told Voice of America that 'today' on Sunday, her brother was 'taken from prison to court,' where 'the ruling was read to him verbally,' and the judge told him, 'We see no regret or remorse on your face.' According to Ms. Mehrabi, her lawyer 'Ms. Kazemi' was also told, 'Due to national security issues, we are unable to provide a written ruling.' Hajar Mehrabi stated that in protest of her brother's detention, 'for more than 16 months, she has stood every day in front of the UN headquarters in Vienna' holding his photo, saying that Mahmoud Mehrabi was in Vienna but 'returned to Iran' and 'stood and resisted with empty hands of power and politics. He stood and was the voice of the people. My brother did not choose to be gray. My brother was here in the city of Vienna but returned to Iran and wanted to be in Iran and the voice of the people. He has been imprisoned and tortured for more than 16 months.' She requested that 'be the voice of Mahmoud Mehrabi,' adding, 'My brother is one of thousands of prisoners who are anonymous and oppressed and have no voice. Do not discriminate between political prisoners, and I ask you to be their voice. We have no one else.' On the other hand, a social media account attributed to Maryam Mehrabi, another sister of Mahmoud Mehrabi, published a post indicating that she intends to 'self-immolate' in protest against the death sentence for her brother in front of the house of Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Naseri, a religious scholar in Isfahan, on Tuesday. The Dabban legal advisors group also announced that the indictment against Mahmoud Mehrabi last year for the charge of 'corruption on earth' was issued in the second investigative branch of the public and revolutionary prosecutor's office in Mobarakeh County in Isfahan Province 'based on the complaint of 77 plaintiffs,' and the charges were based on claims of 'widespread dissemination of falsehoods on Instagram, propaganda against the regime, inciting military and law enforcement forces to not perform their duties, inciting people to war and slaughter, and insulting the founder and leader of the Islamic Republic.' According to this legal group, the issuance of this indictment with the charge of 'corruption on earth' against Mahmoud Mehrabi 'is while there is no concrete evidence in his actions indicating the commission of this criminal act in reality,' and 'the lack of any concrete evidence for attributing this charge against Mahmoud Mehrabi becomes more evident' when the indictment claims that the charge of 'spreading falsehoods' has caused 'disruption of public order and significant damage to public property.' The Dabban legal advisors group stated that 'the reliance of the indictment on the complaints of 77 individuals against Mahmoud Mehrabi and the attribution of 187 charges to him aims to broadly depict criminal activity and consequently attribute the charge of corruption on earth, which is a clear indication of heavy case fabrication by intelligence and security agencies against this political prisoner.' Gohar Eshghi, the mother of the martyr Sattar Beheshti, a blogging worker who was killed in custody, reacted to the issuance of the death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi on X, writing: 'The criminal Khamenei and his executioners have decided to turn our country into a graveyard; with death sentences, they want to create fear and distance us from each other. We must stand together, unite, and strike; the lives of our children are in danger.' The issuance of the death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi follows reports of the sentencing of Tomaj Salehi to death in the Revolutionary Court, which has sparked a widespread wave of global protests.