Pezhman Soltani, a detainee from the 2022 protests in Boukan, sentenced to death

Iranian human rights groups report that Pezhman Soltani, one of the detainees from the 2022 protests in Boukan, has been sentenced to death. According to HRANA, a collection of Iranian human rights activists, and the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, the juvenile criminal court in West Azerbaijan province sentenced Pezhman Soltani to death on charges of "premeditated murder." Reports indicate that this court session was held in connection with the killing of a force linked to the security institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Additionally, Rezgar Bigzadeh Babamiri was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Ali (Souran) Ghasemi received a sentence of 10 years and one day of imprisonment. The court acquitted Kavah Salehi, who had been detained alongside the three mentioned and had spent about one year and nine months in prison. Human rights organizations state that the court session took place on December 30 of this year, and the verdict was issued on January 15, while the judicial process did not adhere to international standards, and the defendants were not entitled to independent legal counsel. The Iranian judiciary has not yet issued an official statement regarding this matter. Pezhman Soltani, 32 years old, was arrested in Boukan in early spring 2023, about six months after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a young woman from Saqqez who died in custody of security forces during a family trip to Tehran in late September 2022, an event that sparked widespread anti-government protests. Security institutions and the judiciary accused Pezhman Soltani of "instigating the murder" of a force affiliated with the Basij, while Rezgar Bigzadeh and Ali Ghasemi were accused of "participating" in the murder. The Basij and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were accused of widespread repression of protesters during the protests at that time, which had a broad scope in Kurdish regions. Human rights organizations reported that Pezhman Soltani had "procured medicine" for injured protesters who were afraid to go to the hospital due to the risk of identification. These groups have described Mr. Soltani as a political prisoner, but the indictment against him also included charges of "rebellion" and "waging war against God," as well as "collaboration with hostile governments" and "smuggling Starlink." The Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, published "confessions" from Pezhman Soltani and three other defendants this July, portraying them as "confessions" to the killing of a security force. However, human rights organizations stated that the defendants had endured months of physical and psychological torture to obtain these "confessions." Forced "confessions" are a well-known tactic in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, according to many released prisoners, are obtained under physical and psychological torture and by deceiving the accused into believing they would gain freedom or reduced punishment. Pezhman Soltani and other defendants in this case have complained about the interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence for torture to extract "confessions." According to HRANA, the death sentence for Pezhman Soltani and heavy sentences for other detainees from the protests have once again raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in Iran. This group has called on the international community, human rights organizations, and political prisoner advocacy groups to take "urgent actions" to halt the implementation of these sentences and to review the cases of these individuals under the supervision of independent international bodies. Dozens of prisoners in Iran, classified by human rights organizations as political and security prisoners, are under death sentences. Peikhan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi are among those who have recently received death sentences.