Bijan Kazemi sentenced to 37 years and 6 months in prison
25-May-2026
Category: Prison Sentence
23 May 2026
News group: Issuance of prison sentence
Breathing in Confinement: Bijan Kazemi, a political prisoner imprisoned in Evin Prison, has been sentenced to a total of 37 years and 6 months of discretionary imprisonment.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Shahnaz Khosravi, Bijan Kazemi’s mother, wrote on her Instagram page regarding the issuance of this sentence:
“An unjust verdict for Bijan
What did they want from their homeland that their share of youth has become imprisonment, gallows, and torment?
After around 16 months of uncertainty, my son has been sentenced to a total of 37 years and 6 months in prison.
Bijan was arrested on 19 January 2025 by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in Kuhdasht and transferred to Evin Prison under the vague accusation of ‘involvement in a security case’. Some time later, it was publicly claimed that he had been accused of procuring weapons for the individual who attacked Judges Razini and Moghiseh. According to statements from various sources, this allegation was denied by some security officers, while judicial authorities in Kuhdasht remained silent on the matter.
For the first time, in June 2025, a judicial official stated that the allegation regarding the procurement of weapons for the attacker had not been accepted and that he had been acquitted of this charge.
After months of detention in solitary confinement and enduring difficult conditions in detention centres known as safe houses, Bijan Kazemi was transferred to Ward 7 of Evin Prison in October 2025.
The proceedings in his case, which resulted in this heavy sentence and has been challenged by his family, were held in February this year at Branch 5 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati.
He had previously been arrested in April 2020 and sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment on charges related to political activities. He served 18 months of that sentence in Khorramabad Prison and was later released under electronic monitoring.”**
According to this report, after approximately 16 months of uncertainty, Bijan Kazemi has now been sentenced to a total of 37 years and 6 months in prison.
Following his arrest on 19 January 2025 by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in Kuhdasht, Bijan Kazemi was transferred to the Intelligence Department in Khorramabad for interrogation. He was then moved to Ward 241 of Evin Prison (under the supervision of the Intelligence Protection Organisation of the Judiciary) and later to Ward 209 of Evin Prison (managed by the Ministry of Intelligence).
This political prisoner, who has remained in pre-trial detention until now, was tried in February this year at Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges including “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against internal and external national security” and “membership in opposition groups against the country.”
In addition, in early August 2025, his interrogation session was held at Branch 5 of the Investigative Prosecutor’s Office of District 33 in Tehran without the presence of a lawyer. At the end of the session, bail was set at 4 billion tomans, but according to reports, the case officer opposed his release. He was subsequently transferred to the detention facility of the Intelligence Department in Qom and was returned again to Evin Prison on 25 September 2025.
Bijan Kazemi has previously also faced arrest in connection with his activities.