Reza Rasaei, one of the detainees from the 2022 protests, was executed on Tuesday, August 6. Rasaei’s body was buried under security measures in a remote location.
Rasaei, 34, was arrested during the 2022 protests in Sahneh, Kermanshah.
According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, the execution was carried out secretly at dawn in the central prison (Dizelabad) of Kermanshah without informing his family.
A few hours later, security agencies informed Rasaei’s family of his execution and warned them that they were not allowed to bury him in his hometown of Sahneh.
Hours later, Fatemeh Heydari, the sister of Javad Heydari, who died in the 2022 nationwide protests, announced on social media that only Rasaei’s mother, sister, and brother were allowed by officers to attend his funeral. His body was being buried in Mina Abad Cemetery in Kermanshah, a very remote cemetery three hours away from Sahneh, with a heavy security presence. The public was not allowed to attend the cemetery.
Reza Rasaei was sentenced to death by the Second Branch of the Criminal Court of Kermanshah Province last September. This sentence was later upheld in December by Branch 17 of the Supreme Court.
This protester was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of Nader Beyrami, the head of the Intelligence Office in Sahneh, but he denied this accusation.
Previously, an informed source from Dizelabad Prison had reported that pressure on Reza Rasaei had increased, and his access to phone calls with his family and in-person visits had been cut off.
Simultaneously, pressure on Rasaei’s family also increased.
This informed source mentioned that “threatening phone calls and threats of arresting family members are among the pressures applied on Reza Rasaei’s family since July.”
Reza Rasaei’s death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court despite “numerous procedural and substantive errors in the verdict issued by the lower court,” including reliance on coerced confessions of the defendants against each other, deliberate disregard of testimonies by several defendants in favor of Rasaei, acknowledgment of deficiencies in the preliminary investigations, neglect of forensic expert opinions, and particularly the court’s reliance on the “judge’s knowledge” to prove guilt.
Amnesty International warned in February 2024 of the risk of execution of this protester following the Supreme Court’s rejection of Reza Rasaei’s appeal.
In recent months, human rights organizations and activists have warned about the possible execution of several political prisoners, including Reza Rasaei, Mojahed Koorkoor, Habib Deris, and Abbas Deris.
Despite widespread domestic and international protests, the Iranian regime continues to execute prisoners.
