Six Iranian protesters sentenced to death prepare to appeal

Attorneys representing six young protesters sentenced to death for allegedly killing a Basij militia member are preparing to appeal the verdicts, according to one of the lawyers.

The defendants' attorneys are also collectively preparing to lodge a complaint with judicial authorities about the anomalies in the trial and sentencing process, lawyer Payam Derafshan announced on X on Tuesday.

The anomalies included returning the defendants to prison while on bail only a few days before the sentencing and abruptly assigning the two investigating judges who issued the arrest warrants to the case.

The six young men were among 50 residents of the Shahrak-e Ekbatan housing complex in western Tehran, arrested in connection with the severe beating of Arman Aliverdi, a pro-establishment seminary student and a Basij militia member, at the height of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests of 2022.

Aliverdi was attacked by enraged protesters who suspected him of infiltrating their ranks. He succumbed to his injuries in the hospital two days later. Authorities have labeled Aliverdi a "martyr" and have heavily leveraged his death in state propaganda against the protesters.

The Basij maintain four bases within the five square kilometer complex which has been a hotbed of protests since 2022, heavily manned by plainclothes security agents. They often fired their guns at windows, raided apartment lobbies, and destroyed property to intimidate residents.

Dissident activist Hossein Ronaghi protesting the death sentences in Shahrak-e Ekbatan with sewn lips

In the wake of the announcement of the death sentences, security forces have increased their presence in the neighborhood. A popular dissident X account, reported on Tuesday that plainclothes agents on motorbikes were patrolling the area doing random searches of residents and their phones.

Hossein Ronaghi, a dissident activist who sewed his lips in protest last week and has been holding daily protests in various areas of Tehran since then, staged a brief one-man sit-in on Friday in the area, protesting the death sentences.

The defendants, Milad Armoon, Alireza Kafa’i, Amir Mohammad Khosh Eqbal, Navid Najaran, Hossein Nemati, and Alireza Barmarzpournak, were sentenced to death on November 13 by the magistrates of Branch 13 of the Criminal Court One.

Four of the defendants sentenced to death have also been indicted for "muhariba" (waging war against God), which also bears a death sentence. All of the accused have also been charged with “propaganda against the system” and similar charges for which they will be tried separately.

Two of the three magistrates of Branch 13 of Criminal Court One voted for a death sentence. The presiding magistrate, Babak Paknia, however, opposed it.

Paknia maintains that confessions in custody, on which the death sentences were based, are not valid unless repeated in court. During the trial, the accused denied involvement in the beatings that led to Aliverdi’s death.