The Case of the Ekbatan Children; Hossein Nemat is Still 'In Limbo'

Hossein Nemat's lawyer, one of the defendants in the case known as the Ekbatan Children, submitted a legal petition to the court protesting the 'prolonged state of indefinite temporary detention' of his client and requested the release of this imprisoned protester from temporary detention. Payam Darfashan, a human rights attorney, stated that the right to contest temporary detention is 'a fundamental right and a cornerstone of the rule of law' that 'ensures the foundation of individual freedoms and prevents arbitrary and unregulated detentions.' This human rights lawyer emphasized that temporary detention is issued to temporarily prevent issues such as 'fleeing or collusion by the accused' and 'is not meant to continue until a final verdict is issued,' and 'objections to it until the final ruling is completely justified.' Mr. Darfashan also stressed: 'The Criminal Court One, as the court that issued the order, is obliged to accept the defendant's objection and send it for review to the appellate court. This is a legal obligation, and the court cannot refuse to perform it.' Based on investigations, Hossein Nemat, this arrested protester, 'had no role in the illegal detention, infliction of injury, or effective damage leading to death,' and this issue 'was confirmed in the preliminary ruling, and the client was acquitted of the charge of illegal detention, but then, in an unjustified action, along with a group of other defendants in the case, was collectively sentenced to qisas (retribution).' Branch 13 of the Criminal Court One of Tehran Province sentenced Milad Arman, Alireza Kafayi, Amir Mohammad Khushqebal, Navid Najaran, Hossein Nemat, and Alireza Barmarzpournak, six of the arrested protesters in the case known as 'the Ekbatan Children,' to death in connection with the killing of a Basij member named Arman Ali-Vardi. The issuance of death sentences for these protesters came while Hossein Nemat, Alireza Barmarzpournak, Alireza Kafayi, and Amir Mohammad Khushqebal, four of the defendants in this case, had been released on bail from Qazalhesar Prison in Bahman 1402 (February 2024), but were re-arrested on Sunday, 13 Aban (November 4) after appearing in court. Babak Paknia, one of the lawyers for some of the defendants in this case, had previously emphasized that the head of the branch opposed the issuance of the death sentence and issued a minority opinion. This case was returned to the court in the early days of 1403 (2024) for what was described as 'remedying deficiencies and errors' and was sent back to Branch 13 of the Criminal Court One of Tehran and Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran. Earlier, Saeed Dehghan, a legal expert and attorney, had pointed out some of the legal deficiencies in the death sentences issued for six of the protesters in the 'Ekbatan Children' case in an interview with Voice of America.