Adinezadeh Family

Activism/rights: Justice-seeking family
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention; torture and ill-treatment; failure to investigate the killing of his son; constant surveillance, summonses, and threats; prohibition on visiting the grave and holding commemorative ceremonies; denial of access to a lawyer; denial of family contact; familial punishment

Abolfazl Adinezadeh, a 17-year-old protester, was killed on 8 October 2022 in the city of Mashhad during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests after being struck by dozens of pellets fired by the Mashhad Special Unit forces. Since then, his family—including his father Ali Adinezadeh, mother Goldasteh Hosseini Jahanabad, and sister Marzieh Adinezadeh—have repeatedly been summoned and detained, with judicial cases opened against them solely for their pursuit of justice and demanding and investigation into Abolfazl’s killing.

Ali, who published images of his son’s grave accompanied by messages demanding justice on his Instagram page, has been summoned on multiple occasions to Revolutionary Court prosecutors on charges including “spreading false information”, “disturbing public opinion”, “propaganda against the system”, and even “publishing obscene images”. In 2022, this justice-seeking father filed a complaint against law-enforcement and military forces with the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Khorasan Razavi Province, requesting a review of CCTV footage from the time of his son’s killing. However, after approximately one year, not only was no investigation carried out into his son’s death, but intelligence agents stated that any consideration of the case was conditional upon the family's silence and cooperation with the authorities. Ahead of Abolfazl’s birthday on 16 June 2023, as the family were preparing to hold a ceremony, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence arrested Marzieh. When her father protested, he was also arrested after being beaten, and security forces subsequently raided the family home and detained other family members. 

On 25 July 2024, Ali was rearrested after being summoned to Branch One of the Investigative Unit of the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Quchan. He was released on bail from Mashhad (Vakil Abad) Central Prison after 48 days.

In May 2025, Marzieh reported that judicial cases had been opened against her parents, sister, and two uncles on charges including “disruption of public order”, “spreading false information”, “intentional assault”, and “resisting officers. On 21 December 2025, Ali was arrested while attending the seventh-day memorial of Khosrow Alikordi (see page 12) and held incommunicado and access to legal counsel. During the subsequent proceedings, the investigator, Mohsen Vahedian Azimi, reportedly acted abusively, threatening the family with arrest and confiscating their bank cards. Ali was ultimately released on bail on 29 December. 

On 31 January 2026, Marzieh announced on social media that Branch 118 of Mashhad Criminal Court had ordered her father to pay 386 million tomans (approx. €3,058) in compensation to plainclothes agents. The ruling was issued on charges of "intentional assault against officers" stemming from the violent arrest of family members in June 2023.