Protester Hossein Kheiri Sentenced to Death for Destruction of Public Property

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court recently sentenced 32 year-old Hossein Kheiri to death on charges of “moharebeh (enmity against god) through the destruction of private property with the intention of opposing the system.”

Ali Sharifzadeh, one of Hossein Kheiri's lawyers, told IHR: "They didn’t have any political affiliations. They were just young people, Hossein was a plasterer. Hossein set fire to two cars which were scrap cars and seven or eight instances of writing slogans on walls and doesn’t deserve to be executed.”

There are eight defendants in the case, all of whom were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence during the November 2019 nationwide protests. Of the eight defendants, four were charged with moharebeh: Hossein Kheiri, Nima Heidari, Fardin Asgartabar and Majid Kahrari; and the other four were released on bail.

Hossein Kheiri, Nima Heidari, Fardin Asgartabar and Majid Kahrari are currently held in Evin Prison.

Babak Paknia, another lawyer in the case had previously told reporters that the moharebeh charge did not correspond with the acts committed by his clients.

On June 29, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced Hossein Kheiri to death and the other defendants to more than 34 years of imprisonment. The ruling has been appealed by the defendants’ lawyers.