Death Sentence and 20-Year Prison Term Issued for 21-Year-Old Protester Mohammad-Mahdi Parsa in Ahvaz
Mohammad-Mahdi Parsa, a 21-year-old Lur citizen and one of those arrested during the December 2024 protests in Ahvaz, has been sentenced to death on charges of “moharebeh” (enmity against God) and to a total of 20 years in prison on two additional charges. This severe sentence comes as part of a wave of death sentences being issued and carried out against those arrested during the December protests.
The human rights organization Hengaw reported in its statement today that the death sentence for Mohammad-Mahdi Parsa was issued by the first branch of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Ehsan Adib-Mehr. Parsa is from Qaleh-Tel in Khuzestan Province and is currently held in Shibanasb Prison in Ahvaz.
According to the court verdict, he was sentenced to death on charges of “moharebeh” based on allegations that he participated in the destruction of a government bank during the evening of December 18, 2024, protests in Ahvaz. The court also sentenced him to 10 years in prison for “participation in illegal gatherings” and another 10 years for “cooperation with hostile states.” In total, the issued sentence includes a death sentence and 20 years of imprisonment.
According to informed sources, Parsa was denied access to a lawyer of his choice during interrogation and judicial proceedings. He was arrested on December 21, 2024, in Ahvaz and transferred to Shibanasb Prison after interrogations concluded. If confirmed, the allegation that he was denied access to an appointed lawyer raises serious questions about the possibility of effective defense and adherence to fair trial principles in a case that carries the death penalty.
Parsa’s case cannot be examined separately from the broader wave of judicial sentences against those arrested during the December protests. In its statistical report on the occasion of the International Day Against Capital Punishment, Hengaw announced that as of October 9, 2026, it had verified death sentences for at least 106 people arrested during these protests. According to the same report, the death sentences of 35 people had been carried out by that date, and 63 others were at serious risk of execution.
This process continued in the following days. On the morning of November 8, 2026, the death sentences of Hassan Diobandi, Hamid Kazemi, and Reza Zanganeh, three of those arrested during the December protests, were carried out in Karaj. With these three, the number of those executed in connection with the December protests according to this organization’s records reached 40.
Hengaw also reported on November 10 about the situation of 15 protesters arrested in December, including two women, who are facing death sentences in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. According to the report, at least three death sentences in these cases have been confirmed by the Supreme Court and referred to the execution unit for implementation.
These cases together present a troubling picture of the judicial treatment of those arrested during the December protests. From a 21-year-old young man in Ahvaz who has been sentenced to death and 20 years in prison, to women facing death sentences for their presence at protests or for providing aid to the wounded, and to individuals whose death sentences have been carried out.
Charges such as “moharebeh” and “cooperation with hostile states” play a central role in these cases; however, merely including these titles in court verdicts cannot substitute for the publication of verifiable evidence and transparent, independent examination. In cases where the outcome can be the taking of a human life, access to an independent lawyer, the possibility of effective defense, verification of the credibility of confessions, and the right to appeal are of vital importance.
When human rights reports tell of dozens of death sentences and the successive execution of some of them, the concern is not limited to the fate of one prisoner. The fundamental question is whether the judicial system, instead of clarifying charges in an open and fair process, is pursuing the expansion of capital punishment in response to social protests. The case of Mohammad-Mahdi Parsa is now another serious example of this concern; a young man whose fate is bound to a sentence that, if carried out, will leave no possibility of return.
