Death Sentence Issued Against Pejman Toubereh Rizi Based on Gross Human Rights Violations
12-September-2025
Category: protesters
12 September 2025
News Group: Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement – A death sentence has been issued against a political prisoner held in Evin Prison on charges of corruption on earth (efsad fel-arz) and membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Amouzad, issued the ruling. Pejman Toubereh Rizi, 31, from Kermanshah, was arrested in Tehran on 28 January 2025. Reports indicate that during his detention in Ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence, he was subjected to severe torture, including electric shocks and beatings, resulting in the loss of three teeth in the early days of his detention.
The judicial proceedings against him have been a blatant violation of fair trial principles and human rights standards. He was tried without access to an independent lawyer and under non-transparent conditions. Reports further suggest that the presiding judge threatened him with a death sentence unless he accepted the charges and cooperated with the Ministry of Intelligence, attempting to coerce him into making a forced confession. After rejecting these threats and refusing to admit to the charges, he was sentenced to death but refused to sign the issued verdict.
The issuance of such a sentence, based on threats and coerced confessions, not only lacks legal validity but also constitutes a clear violation of international human rights treaties. Conditioning a sentence on cooperation with security agencies is a blatant indication of judicial abuse of power and the lack of independence of the judiciary in Iran.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran strongly condemns the issuance and execution of such rulings and calls for the immediate annulment of the death sentence of Pejman Toubereh Rizi, his unrestricted access to a lawyer of his choice, and an independent international investigation into the torture and violations of his rights.