Unlawful Death Sentences Issued for 10 Protesters Arrested During the January Uprising in Isfahan; “Isfahan Shohada Square” Case Marred by Serious Due Process Concerns

Breathing in Confinement, Tuesday, September 1, 2026: Branch One of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court has issued 10 death sentences and a combined total of 256 years of imprisonment against 16 citizens arrested during the nationwide protests in January in a case known as the “Isfahan Shohada Square” case.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, 10 citizens arrested during the January protests have been sentenced to death following judicial proceedings marred by serious concerns and irregularities.

According to information received by Breathing in Confinement, amid the continuing unlawful and deeply concerning process of issuing death sentences against individuals detained in connection with the January protests, 10 young people arrested in Isfahan, including one woman, are now facing execution.

The identities of the detainees have been confirmed as Taraneh Rahimi, Navid Elyasi, Abolfazl Dadgostar, Mehdi Mansouri, Ahmadreza Saeidi, Mehrdad Boueri, Mohammadmehdi Asadi, Armin Gholami, Parsa Jafari and Mehdi Jafari (Khosravi). In addition to the death sentences, they have been sentenced to a combined total of 110 years in prison.

According to available information, each of the 10 defendants was sentenced to death and 11 years of imprisonment.

Six other defendants in the same case—Romina Rahimi, Milad Boueri, Hamed Mehralian, Setayesh Saeidi, Sajjad Abedi and Ali Boueri—were sentenced to a combined total of 146 years in prison.

The deeply concerning judicial process in this case has prompted widespread objections among activists and lawyers. One of the lawyers involved in the case has filed a complaint against officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation over the failure to refer the complaint to the prosecutor’s office.

Shahrzad Shahbazi, one of the lawyers representing defendants in the case known as the “Isfahan Shohada Square” case, filed a complaint against IRGC Intelligence officers alleging “obtaining forced confessions under torture,” “abuse of official position,” and “insults and threats.” The filing of this complaint is also referenced in the final section of the judgment issued in the case, which states that the complaint must be referred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. However, according to information received, the referral has not yet taken place.

The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran condemns the issuance of these unjust and deeply concerning death sentences against detainees from the January protests and calls on all international human rights bodies and the United Nations to take urgent action to clarify the serious concerns surrounding this case and to work towards preventing the execution of the protesters.