Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, presided over by Reza Najafzadeh, has sentenced five Kurdish citizens from the city of Bukan to a total of 12 death sentences and 75 years of discretionary imprisonment. The verdict was delivered to their defense attorneys on July 7.
The defendants—Soran Ghasemi (Ali), Pejman Soltani, Kaveh Salehi, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, and Tayfour Salimi Babamiri—were all arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022. For months, they were held in detention centers affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), where they were subjected to intense interrogations, torture, and enforced disappearances. Their families and defense lawyers emphasize that the verdicts were based primarily on confessions extracted under duress and torture, and that the judicial proceedings lacked the minimum standards of a fair trial.
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Online Sessions Held Without Oversight or Proper Defense
According to informed sources, the trial took place in three online sessions without the presence of any independent observers and without sufficient opportunity for appointed lawyers to mount a proper defense. The attorneys were only allowed to deliver an oral defense at the moment the indictment was read. Charges brought against the defendants include “baghi” (armed rebellion), “moharebeh” (waging war against God), “forming and leading an insurgent group,” “intelligence collaboration with a hostile government,” “trafficking Starlink satellite internet devices,” “assembly and collusion against national security,” and “propaganda against the regime.”
Sentences in Detail
- Soran Ghasemi, Pejman Soltani, and Kaveh Salehi were each sentenced to three executions and 15 years in prison. Ghasemi and Soltani were also sentenced to an additional 10 and 15 years, respectively, on charges of direct involvement in murder. Salehi was acquitted of this particular charge.
- Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri was sentenced to death twice and 15 years in prison, and in a separate case, he received another 15-year sentence for alleged direct involvement in a murder.
- Tayfour Salimi Babamiri was sentenced to one execution and 15 years in prison. He is currently released on bail set at 50 billion rials (5 billion tomans).
Accounts of Torture and Coerced Confessions
The families of the defendants reported that the arrests took place in March and April 2023, and that the detainees were held in solitary confinement for extended periods. Deprived of family visits or phone calls, they were subjected to extreme psychological and physical pressure to confess to charges such as collaboration with Mossad and involvement in street violence. In one instance, agents threatened to arrest or execute the defendant’s family members if they did not confess.
Claims of Starlink Smuggling and Mossad Collaboration
The Urmia prosecutor has claimed that the defendants intended to distribute 120 Starlink satellite internet devices in western Iran and that they collaborated with Mossad to disrupt national security. However, lawyers and legal experts argue that no technical documentation or independent evidence has been presented to substantiate these charges and that the case relies solely on confessions extracted under torture. Experts describe such heavy-handed accusations as an attempt to instill fear in society.
Multiple Death Sentences: A Case of Excessive Punishment
Pejman Soltani had previously been sentenced to death in a separate case by the Juvenile Criminal Court of West Azerbaijan province. With this new ruling, he now faces a total of four death sentences. Soran Ghasemi also has three death sentences and a 10-year prison term in a separate case for direct involvement in murder. Legal experts consider these repeated death sentences as an example of “judicial cruelty” and a violation of the principle of proportionality in punishment.
