Six Months Prison and Flogging for Protesting Student from Rudsar; Security Case Against Him Remains Open
“Mohammad Javad Mohammadzadeh Tavasani,” a 21-year-old computer science student and one of those detained during the December 2025 protests, has been sentenced to six months imprisonment and 20 lashes. He remains detained in Azbarme prison in Lahijan while facing this punishment, even as another section of his case involving security-related charges is being tried at the Revolutionary Court in Rasht, with no verdict yet announced.
“Mohammad Javad Mohammadzadeh Tavasani,” a student from Rudsar in Gilan Province, was sentenced in early September 2025 by the Lahijan Criminal Court to six months imprisonment and 20 lashes on charges of “disrupting public order and peace.” The verdict was delivered to him in October.
News agency Hrana and the human rights media outlet “Nafs dar Ghafas” (Breath in a Cage) have reported that this conviction covers only part of the student’s legal case. Additional charges have been brought against him, with proceedings on those charges referred to the Revolutionary Court in Rasht.
Mohammadzadeh Tavasani was arrested on the evening of February 13, 2025, during a raid by security forces on his home in Rudsar. According to published reports, the officers searched his residence and confiscated his mobile phone. After his arrest, he was transferred to Azbarme prison in Lahijan, where he remains detained.
The student was born on February 5, 2004, and is a fourth-semester computer science student. According to information published by Hrana, before his arrest he worked as a laborer and as a driver for the internet taxi service Snapp to cover living expenses.
His arrest was in connection with the December 2024 protests, during which a large number of citizens were arrested in various parts of Iran and multiple legal cases were opened against protesters.
Another section of Mohammadzadeh’s case includes charges such as “actions against national security,” “destruction of public property,” and “cooperation with foreign media and hostile groups or governments.” Allegations of cooperation with Israel have also been mentioned in reports related to his case.
A hearing on this section of the case was held on September 15, 2025, at the Revolutionary Court in Rasht; however, according to information available at the time of this report, a final verdict on these charges has not yet been announced. Therefore, these remain charges in his case and should not be considered proven offenses.
Hrana previously reported in a statement about the student’s detention status that his temporary detention order was repeatedly extended and bail was not made available to him. The news agency also cited a source close to his family alleging that physical and psychological pressure was applied during the initial days of detention to extract a confession. This allegation is attributed to the aforementioned source and has not been independently verified.
The issuance of a flogging sentence alongside imprisonment for a student detained in connection with the protests has once again raised the issue of the use of corporal punishment in Iran’s judicial system. Human rights organizations consider punishments such as flogging to be incompatible with the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law.
In Mohammadzadeh Tavasani’s case, in addition to the sentence handed down, the unresolved status of another section of charges and his continued detention in prison are also significant issues. As of the publication of this report, no information has been released about the execution of the flogging sentence or the conclusion of his security-related case.
