Iran protester faces second execution attempt

Human rights organizations report that death sentences were initially handed down to 15 people connected to the case, five of whom have already been executed, with only one sentence overturned.

By Gila Isaacson, JFeed

Iranian authorities have intensified preparations to execute Alireza Sepahi, a protester arrested during widespread demonstrations in January, according to Iran International, citing sources familiar with the case.

Sepahi has reportedly been transferred to the isolated “Alef-Ta” solitary confinement unit within the prison, a move that typically signals the final stages before carrying out a death sentence.

The transfer comes just weeks after he narrowly escaped execution when he suffered a severe medical emergency minutes before he was scheduled to be hanged.

He was rushed to Al-Zahra Hospital for urgent treatment and returned to prison once his condition stabilized.

That dramatic last-minute reprieve occurred in late July, when Sepahi was set to be executed alongside other defendants in what is known as the “Alikhani Square case” in the city of Isfahan.

On the morning Sepahi was hospitalized, two other individuals connected to the case were executed: his cousin Abolfazl Sepahi and another defendant named Amirhossein Sefari Hosseinabadi.

The case involves numerous defendants arrested during unrest and protests against the government.

Human rights organizations report that death sentences were initially handed down to 15 people connected to the case, five of whom have already been executed, with only one sentence overturned.

These developments unfold amid a complex legal battle waged by Sepahi’s attorney, Shahrzad Shahbazi.

According to the lawyer, although Branch 39 of Iran’s Supreme Court accepted her request and ordered a retrial with a full review of evidence while preserving her client’s defense rights, the Revolutionary Court in Isfahan chose to ignore the directive.

That parallel court rejected the retrial request without even holding a procedural hearing or hearing defense arguments and transferred Sepahi’s case directly to the sentence enforcement division.

The attorney emphasized she will not give up and intends to file another request for a retrial, exhausting all available legal avenues to prevent the impending execution.

The international community and human rights organizations are following developments in this case and the broader “Alikhani Square” affair with deep concern.

Amnesty International has previously included Sepahi on a list of eight defendants in the case facing immediate and real danger of execution.

The organization characterized the group trial of the defendants as manifestly unfair, lacking basic elements of due process, and emphasized that the Iranian regime is attempting to escalate its use of the death penalty as a deterrent tool designed to suppress with an iron fist any expression of civil protest or opposition to the government.