Ali Younesi’s Five-Year Sentence Upheld; Imprisoned Student to Remain in Prison as Expected Release Approaches

Breathing in Confinement, Friday, 25 September 2026: A sentence previously issued against imprisoned student Ali Younesi by Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court has been upheld on appeal. Under the ruling, he faces a further five years in prison.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the ruling comes after Younesi had previously been sentenced to imprisonment in connection with protest-related and political activities. In the summer of 2025, Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi were each sentenced to 15 months in prison on a charge of “propaganda against the system.” As part of the same judicial proceedings, Younesi was also sentenced to an additional five years in prison.

With the new sentence now upheld, Younesi’s imprisonment will effectively continue beyond the completion of his previous sentence. According to available information, the enforceable sentences of the two students, reported as totalling six years and eight months, were due to end in December this year, after which they were expected to be released from prison.

Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi have been imprisoned since April 2020 and, according to published reports, have not been granted even a single day of prison leave during this period. In addition to depriving them of their liberty, their continued imprisonment and judicial sentences have disrupted and restricted their university education.

From a human rights perspective, the opening of new cases and imposition of additional sentences against prisoners who are already serving previous sentences raise concerns regarding prolonged deprivation of liberty, the right to freedom, and access to due process and a fair trial. In Younesi’s case, the confirmation of the new five-year sentence means that his imprisonment will continue beyond the end of his previous sentence.

Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi, both students at Sharif University of Technology, were arrested in April 2020. Their cases have resulted in multiple judicial rulings over the years.