On August 28, the Iranian regime’s judiciary sentenced Navid, Vahid, and Habib Afkari Sangari to death, long-term prison, and lashes to terrify the society and quell any opposition voice. A source, who has reviewed the dossier, told Iran News Wire, “The case lacks foundations and reliable evidence.”


The regime also deprived Habib and another alleged offender Saeed Dashtaki of access to their lawyers and rejected lawyers’ appeal for reconsidering the issued sentences against Navid and Vahid, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Navid Afkari Sangari, 27, is a wrestling champion who has won several national championship medals. He was arrested in August 2018 for participation in anti-establishment protests in Shiraz, the center of Fars province. The provincial court sentenced him to two death sentences, six-and-a-half years of prison, and 74 lashes. The Supreme Court also upheld his death sentence.

The Attorney General claimed that Navid has killed a security (Basij) agent named Hassan Torkaman. However, the same case was also heard by a public court upon the complaint of the security agent’s family where another death sentence was issued.

The court has also raised 20 different offenses against the Afkari brothers such as participation in illegal gatherings, assembly, and collusion against national security, insulting the leader and government agents, providing equipment to commit a crime, and theft along with harassment.

“There were charged with keeping stolen property which is actually referring to a baton they took from a Basij agent. They were charged with providing equipment to commit crimes with which is actually mostly referring to a nail clipper, tester screwdriver, and cloth face masks,” the source revealed.

Vahid and Habib Afkari have also been sentenced to overall 81 years of prison and lashes. Twenty-two-year-old Saeed Dashtaki was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison, and 74 lashes.

In recent months, Iran’s judiciary under Ebrahim Raisi has issued several death sentences against detained protesters, and other excessive orders for political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and followers of ethnic and religious minorities. Notably, Raisi is one of the notorious perpetrators of the mass killing of over 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988.

Previously, in July, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences for three protesters Amir Hossein Moradi, 26, Saeed Tamjidi, 28, and Mohammad Rajabi, 26. However, the Iranian people and human rights activists across the globe managed to push the regime back through campaigns on social media platforms. In a retreat, the judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili announced the death penalties have been suspended.

However, several days later, the mullahs executed Mostafa Salehi, 33, one of the detainees of the December 2017-January 2018 protests, in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. The Judiciary had tried Salehi in a secret court and based on forced confessions.

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Now, in an inhuman move, the regime has ordered Salehi’s wife and her two orphaned children to pay 4.25 billion rials [approximately $18,500]. The late Salehi was a construction worker and like millions of Iranians, his family cannot make ends meet, let alone pay such a burdensome fine.

“Iran’s ruling mullahs have surpassed all boundaries in ruthlessness. Those who under the mask of “families” shed crocodile tears for [People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran] PMOI members, are demanding the bereaved wife and orphaned children of Mostafa Salehi to pay for the execution of their husband and father,” tweeted Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), on August 27.

Also, On April 10, two Iranian elite students, Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi were disappeared. After 26 days, the judiciary admitted to having apprehended them and holding them in custody due to their affiliation to the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI or MEK). On June 11, Younesi’s brother announced on Twitter that Ali has contracted the novel coronavirus in prison.

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All these facts show the expansion of the protesting spirit among Iran’s young generation against the entire rule, forcing the regime to mercilessly deal with a volatile society to lengthen its survival. However, the mullahs’ brutal response has prompted more citizens to openly and unprecedentedly denounce 41 years of suppression, corruption, and inhuman sentences.