Request for Retrial for Abbas Daris; Family of Deceased Officer Has No Complaint

The lawyer for Abbas Daris announced that they have submitted a new defense brief, along with two other lawyers for this death row protester, requesting a retrial in the Supreme Court and are working to obtain a stay of execution. Abbas Daris is one of the protesters from Mahshahr during the November 2019 protests, and as a source informed Voice of America in the fall of 2021, the judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of 'moharebeh' (waging war against God) through 'disruption of order and participation in the murder of a special forces officer of the police.' Meanwhile, Farshid Tabanian, Mr. Daris's lawyer, stated on Saturday, July 15, to the Shargh newspaper that the family of the deceased officer has officially announced that they have no complaint against him. She added: 'The family of Reza Sayadi,' the officer killed during the November 2019 protests, 'does not have a complaint against Abbas Daris and is not the complainant in this case.' Ms. Tabanian emphasized that despite this, she has requested the family to officially and formally declare their consent, and they 'did this,' but 'given the charge of moharebeh, this consent letter was ignored.' This attorney told Shargh newspaper that 'with two lawyers residing in Tehran,' they have pursued Abbas Daris's case and on Saturday submitted a 'new defense brief' and 'requested a retrial' in the Supreme Court. She emphasized that according to the note of Article 478 of the Criminal Procedure Code, upon receipt of a request for retrial in capital crimes, a stay of execution must be issued, and based on this, the lawyers will try to obtain a 'stay of execution order' from the Supreme Court 'within the next two to three days' and 'go through the necessary legal steps to pursue the matter.' Farshid Tabanian had previously stated that 'Abbas Daris's case has flaws, and Branch 39 of the Supreme Court issued the death sentence without considering these flaws.' In recent days, social media users have reacted widely to the confirmation of the death sentence for Abbas Daris and have called for its halt. This reaction continues. Arasham Rezaei, a political activist in Iran, shared two short videos of Mohammad Boroghani's remarks, stating: 'When the noose was around his neck' and 'he had no hope for life,' the people instilled fear in the 'foundations of tyranny' with their 'unity' and forced the Islamic Republic to 'retreat,' and today the 'only hope' for Abbas Daris's children is these people who 'if we unite, the light of oppression will not remain lit by any oppressor.' Mehdi Yarahee, a pop singer from Khuzestan, also released one of his songs in Arabic along with images of Abbas Daris and his family, tweeting: 'Iran is our homeland. We are from one soil and water. We, the children of Iran, are all one voice.' The court has accused Abbas Daris of 'buying weapons,' but his family says, 'If we had money to buy weapons, we would buy bread.' The Persian section of Voice of America reported in December 2021, citing an informed source, details about the arrest of Abbas Daris and his brother, Mohsen Daris, as well as the issuance of a death sentence for him. According to this source, when the death sentence was communicated to Abbas Daris in prison and to his wife during court proceedings, Mr. Daris's wife suffered a stroke and died due to the shock of hearing the 'death sentence.'