Rushed Confirmation of Babak Shahbazi’s Death Sentence Without Observing Legal Standards
5-August-2025
Category: Prisoners
5 August 2025
News Category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Babak Shahbazi, previously issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “espionage.”
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Babak Shahbazi had been sentenced to death by Judge Salavati on charges including “spying for Israel” and “sending a letter to Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, expressing willingness to cooperate with that country in the war against Russia.” The Supreme Court review process was conducted in an irregular and unusually hasty manner, with the verdict upheld in just one day.
Babak Shahbazi has now been transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison, which may signal the imminent implementation of his death sentence.
According to human rights standards, issuing and upholding a death sentence through a process lacking transparency and minimum guarantees of fair trial—particularly when the defendant denied the charges in court and no reliable or conclusive evidence was presented—constitutes a clear violation of fair trial principles.
This action, coupled with the unusually rapid judicial process, reflects the instrumentalisation of the judiciary to instil fear and suppress political dissent.