Iran’s judiciary said on Thursday that Erfan Soltani, a protester detained earlier this month, has not been sentenced to death, rejecting earlier claims by his family that such a ruling had been issued.
The judiciary said Soltani is being held at the central penitentiary in the city of Karaj and has been formally charged with “collusion against internal security” and “propaganda activities against the system,” according to state media.
It added that no death sentence has been issued and that capital punishment does not apply to those charges under Iranian law.
The judiciary said that if the charges are upheld by prosecutors and a court issues a legal ruling, the punishment by law would be imprisonment.
Soltani’s family had previously said that he had been sentenced to death, raising concerns among activists amid a broader crackdown on protesters following unrest across the country.
Iran has in past protest-related cases brought more serious charges such as moharebeh – commonly translated as “waging war against God” – which under the Islamic Republic’s penal code can carry the death penalty.
During earlier waves of unrest, rights groups and analysts said Iranian authorities used capital cases and charges including moharebeh and “corruption on earth” against some detainees, drawing international criticism over due process.
Witnesses said security personnel entered medical centers, removed injured protesters for undisclosed locations and fired “finishing shots” at some of those left behind, describing scenes of bodies and wounded being loaded onto trucks without separation. Iran International could not independently verify the accounts.
Residents said the city fell into an uneasy calm on Monday after clashes on Thursday and Friday followed by two days of resistance by protesters over the weekend. Motorbike units and pickup trucks carrying security forces patrolled streets, while access to hospitals was heavily restricted, witnesses said.
A taxi driver who said he witnessed the violence near Gohardasht square on Thursday said security personnel loaded both dead and wounded protesters onto trucks. “The injured were not separated from the dead,” he said, adding that many were young people.
Families gathered outside hospitals including Kasra and Qassem Soleimani, where armed personnel blocked entrances and dispersed crowds, witnesses said.
At Behesht-e Sakineh cemetery, mourners reported restrictions on burials and said authorities halted the release of bodies to prevent public funerals.
Similar pressure on medical facilities was reported elsewhere.
In the northeastern city of Bojnourd, a nurse told Iran International that a local hospital had become heavily securitized, with normal shift schedules canceled and staff pressured to prioritize treatment for injured security personnel while protesters were turned away or left untreated.
Rights groups and media have reported security force raids on hospitals in other parts of Iran during the unrest, including incidents in the western city of Ilam.
