Nazanin Boniadi Instagram – Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei, aged 34, from Iran’s oppressed Kurdish and Yaresan ethnic and religious minorities, respectively, is at risk of execution in relation to the #WomanLifeFreedom nationwide protests in late 2022. In a verdict dated 7 October 2023, the Criminal Court in Iran’s Kermanshah province convicted Reza Rasaei of “murder” and sentenced him to death. According to the verdict, he was convicted of involvement in the killing of an agent, identified as a member of the Revolutionary Guards by state media, on 18 November 2022 during a protest. Rasaei has repeatedly denied involvement, including during trial. The court also convicted him of “disrupting public order” and sentenced him to one year in prison and 74 lashes. In the verdict, the court summarily dismissed Reza Rasaei’s retraction of his forced “confession,” which he had said during trial was obtained under torture and other ill-treatment during interrogations, without conducting investigations. #RezaRasaei was arrested on 24 November 2022 in Tehran, by the investigation unit of the Islamic Republic’s police (Agahi). According to an informed source, during interrogations there Agahi agents subjected Rasaei to torture, including electric shocks, suffocation by putting a plastic bag over his head and severe beatings to compel his forced “confessions.” Reza Rasaei was subsequently transferred to Dizel Abad prison in Kermanshah province, where he remains. Rasaei only met his lawyer for the first time at trial, which took place over three sessions, with the final hearing on 21 September 2023. His right to a fair trial was flagrantly violated, including to access a lawyer of his choosing from the time of arrest, to meaningfully challenge the legality of his detention and to be tried by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal.