14-Year Prison Sentence Issued for Saman Ghaderi, Arrested During the January Protests

Breathing in Confinement, Friday, 4 September 2026: Saman Ghaderi, a political prisoner currently held in Greater Tehran Prison and one of those arrested in connection with the January protests, has been sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the sentence was issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. Under the ruling, Saman Ghaderi was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on the charge of “acting against national security” and an additional three years for “insulting the sacred.”

The ruling was communicated to Ghaderi, who is currently being held in Greater Tehran Prison, on Tuesday, 25 August. Following notification of the sentence, he challenged the ruling and filed an appeal. The judgment is therefore not final at this stage, and his case will be reviewed by the Court of Appeal if his appeal is accepted.

Saman Ghaderi, 37, from Urmia, was arrested in Tehran in March this year by forces affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Intelligence Organisation. After completing the interrogation and preliminary investigation stages, he was transferred to Greater Tehran Prison, where he has remained ever since.

No further details have been made public regarding the conduct of the court proceedings, Ghaderi’s access to legal counsel, or the current legal status of his case.