Esfandiyari, 19, was executed on Sunday. He was among 12 defendants sentenced to death over unrest in Isfahan’s Ali Khani Square during nationwide protests in January.
Another defendant was Alireza Raisi, whose sentence had previously been overturned and reduced to 20 years in prison, but has now been reinstated and upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
The sources could not be named for fear of retribution by Iranian authorities.
Secret burial after execution
A source close to Esfandiyari’s family said his relatives waited outside Dastgerd Prison in the central Iranian city of Isfahan until 5:30 a.m. after he was transferred to solitary confinement.
After waiting until dawn and returning home, Esfandiyari's father received another call ordering him back to the prison, accompanied by one other man, the source said.
Authorities forced the family to pledge that Esfandiyari’s body would not be buried in Isfahan and that they would not hold a funeral, sources told Iran International.
His body was buried in Buin Miandasht, a city in western Isfahan province, without his family present. His relatives were also barred from holding a memorial ceremony.
Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency reported on Sunday that Esfandiyari had been executed alongside 24-year old Afghan citizen Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, who was also detained during the January uprising in Isfahan.
Cousin of slain protester faces execution
Another source told Iran International that Raisi, who was born in 2004 and is his family’s only son, had been sentenced to death on the charge of “enmity against God.”
The death sentence was initially overturned on appeal and replaced with a 20-year prison term.
However, Raisi’s family was informed on July 5 that the death sentence had been reinstated and upheld by the Supreme Court, the source said.
He has since been transferred to solitary confinement at Dastgerd Prison and is considered at imminent risk of execution, the source said.
Raisi is the cousin of Ramin Raisi, a 28-year-old protester who disappeared on January 9 during demonstrations in Isfahan’s Baharestan neighborhood.
After searching for nine days, his family found his body at the Bagh-e Rezvan mortuary with four gunshot wounds to the chest.
Intelligence Ministry agents traveling in two vehicles arrested Alireza Raisi outside the entrance to Bagh-e Rezvan cemetery on January 19, one day after Ramin’s burial, people close to the family told Iran International.
Security agencies refused for several days to acknowledge holding him and sent his family between different state institutions before they eventually learned that he was in prison.
The family sought to appoint a lawyer but was told Raisi had no right to choose his own counsel and could only be represented by a court-appointed lawyer.
Sources told Iran International that one piece of evidence used against Raisi was a voice message in which he asked Ramin to take part in the protests.
After tracking Raisi’s mobile phone, agents linked him to the deaths of four law enforcement personnel in Ali Khani Square, an accusation his family denies.
Raisi’s mother has multiple sclerosis, and he has two sisters. His family had planned to hold his engagement celebration at the beginning of the year.
A dozen sent to death row
Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency said indictments were issued against 16 people in the Ali Khani Square case and several defendants were sentenced to death.
Iran International reported on July 8 that 59 people were initially arrested during the January protests and the ensuing crackdown in Ali Khani Square. Of those, 23 were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 10 years.
Twelve defendants were sentenced to death: Abolfazl Ebrahimi, Amirhossein Ebrahimi-Analoucheh, Erfan Esfandiyari, Shervin Bagherian, Ghaem Hosseini, Ali Dashti, Alireza Raisi, Abolfazl Sepahi, Alireza Sepahi, Amirhossein Safari, Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi and Amirhossein Maleki.
The Ali Khani Square case forms part of a broader escalation in Iran's use of the death penalty against political prisoners since January's protests, the June war with Israel and the conflict with the United States that began on February 28.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said on July 14 that cases linked to the protests and the two wars had been handled by special judicial branches, which issued prison and death sentences.
Iran’s judiciary has executed at least 50 political prisoners since March 18 and issued death sentences, lengthy prison terms and asset-confiscation orders against hundreds of others.
The trend has heightened concerns over rushed trials and the swift imposition and execution of severe sentences, drawing condemnation from rights groups and prompting hunger strikes by prisoners.
