Kurdish Protester Mehdi Roshani Faces Death Penalty Sentence After Subjection to Torture
13 August 2026: Based on new information obtained by IHRNGO, the previous report regarding the sentencing and charges against Mehdi Roshani, a protester detained in Ilam, is hereby updated.
Quoting one of the lawyers on the case, an informed source said: “Mehdi Roshani has been formally charged with moharebeh (enmity against God) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth), and his case is currently pending at the Ilam Prosecution Office. However, an indictment has not been issued yet.”
The source added: “There are no charges of murder or assault in the case and Mehdi categorically denies the charges brought against him.”
“Mehdi Roshani was previously sentenced to three years in prison under a final ruling in another protest-related case, which was ultimately reduced to nine months. After serving three months in prison and submitting to the ruling, a further two months were deducted from his sentence.”
While updating its previous report, IHRNGO reiterates the importance of transparency in reporting and considers the opaque conditions surrounding detainees and the lack of free flow of information within the judicial system of the Islamic Republic to be the primary causes of such ambiguities, particularly in security-related cases.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 3 August 2026: Mehdi Roshani, a Kurdish protester arrested in connection to the protest in Malekshahi on 6 January, has been sentenced to death. The protester who has been held incommunicado for two months, was subjected to severe torture to extract self-incriminating confessions that were used as the evidence to convict him.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Mehdi Roshani, a Kurdish protester arrested in connection to the protest in Malekshahi on 6 January, has been sentenced to death on security-related charges.
Mehdi Roshani was arrested at his home on 21 January and transferred to Tehran, where according to informed IHRNGO sources, he was subjected to severe torture to extract self-incriminating confessions.
According to one witness who saw Mehdi after he was transferred back from Tehran, “You would be horrified if you saw his body, not a single spot was left unharmed. His body was covered in electric shock and flogging marks but he had refused to confess.”
Mehdi was ultimately released on bail at the end of May. However, he was rearrested about two weeks later and has been held incommunicado since.
“About a month ago, his family was notified of the death sentence. They were told that he had been sentenced to death for charges including the murder of a policeman named Ehsan Aghajani. We don’t know what else he was subjected to in order to extract the confession,” the source added.
Ehsan Aghajani was reported to have been killed during the protest in Malekshahi on 6 January.
According to the source, Mehdi is from an economically marginalised family. “His family has been subjected to threats to remain silent. His parents don’t have smartphones, the people in Malekshahi have been kept in poverty and deprivation for decades. People took to the streets merely to demand their most fundamental rights.”
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