Supreme Court Rejects Abbas Daris's Request for Retrial; Farshteh Tabanian Emphasizes Her Client's Innocence

With the rejection of Abbas Daris's request for retrial by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic, the death sentence of this political prisoner has been confirmed. Farshteh Tabanian emphasized her client's innocence, stating that he had no role in the murder of a police officer. On Sunday, February 8, Tabanian wrote: "Despite numerous flaws in the ruling of the lower court, my client Abbas Daris's request for retrial was rejected by the Supreme Court of the country." The lawyer for Abbas Daris also announced that "we have requested the application of Article 477, which is under review," and stated, "I emphasize and believe that Abbas Daris had no role in the murder of the officer attributed to him." Tabanian's reference is to Article 477 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that "if the head of the judiciary determines that a final ruling issued by any judicial authority is contrary to clear Sharia, he may authorize a retrial and send the case to the Supreme Court" to be reviewed and a final ruling issued in a specific chamber designated by the head of the judiciary. During the protests of November 2019, on November 27, Reza Sayadi, an officer of the special forces of the police, was killed in the Chaharmahal neighborhood (Jahrahi) of Mahshahr in Khuzestan province. According to human rights organizations, dozens were killed by government forces on that day. Following this, Abbas Daris and his brother, Mohsen Daris, were arrested on December 7 of the same year on charges of "murdering Reza Sayadi" and were subsequently tried, with Abbas Daris sentenced to death on charges of "moharebeh" (waging war against God). Meanwhile, the family of the deceased officer has stated that they have no complaint against Abbas Daris, and according to previous statements by Farshteh Tabanian, there is no confession or evidence indicating that Abbas Daris was involved in this incident. At that time, a source close to Abbas Daris told Voice of America that his wife suffered a stroke and died after hearing the news of the death sentence. Abbas Daris has three children who previously made a video message calling for global support to prevent their father's execution. Additionally, lawyer Mousa Barzin told Voice of America that the killing of the police officer "has no correlation" with the charge of "moharebeh" against Abbas Daris. The wave of executions by the Islamic Republic in Iran has intensified following nationwide protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, and this trend has faced global reactions. In this regard, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern over the significant increase in the use of the death penalty in Iran, including the executions of Mohammad Qabadi and Farhad Salimi.