Isfahan; Sasan Azadvar, 21-year-old Karateka and January Protester, Executed He is the 10th Protester to be Executed
April 30, 2026; Sasan Azadvar Junghani, one of the protesters arrested during the January 2026 protests, was executed in Isfahan. The media of the Islamic Republic of Iran published this news without mentioning the exact location of the execution or referring to a fair judicial process, emphasizing his forced confessions without mentioning his defense.
On the afternoon of Thursday, April 30, 2026, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Judiciary, announced that “Sasan Azadvar” had been executed. It cited his charges as “collaboration with the enemy through attacking Law Enforcement Force personnel with the intent to oppose the system, destruction of Law Enforcement Force vehicles, inciting people to war and killing one another with the intent to disrupt national security, and encouraging others to riots and chaos in the country” during the January 2026 protests in Isfahan.
Mizan used the term “riots” to describe the protests in its terminology and wrote in the explanation of Sasan Azadvar's charges that, based on his own confessions, he was present in the Isfahan protests and engaged in “stone-throwing” at military forces who were inside public city minibuses, breaking the windows with “stones and wood,” and inciting protesters to “riot.” It also cited his associates stating that he appeared on the street with the intent of “overthrowing the system” and “encouraged” them as well. The report also pointed to his “intention” to set fire to a public minibus used by suppression forces and an unsuccessful attempt to procure gasoline. The news mentioned the throwing of 5 to 6 stones by Sasan.
Mizan News Agency stated that the Judiciary and the court relied on reports from security agencies to issue and implement the death sentence, noting that the “reconstruction of the scene, the discovery of a club belonging to the accused, and the criminal content discovered inside his phone and other available evidence, represent the motive, intent, and will of the named individual for his presence in the riots.”
These explanations for issuing a death sentence against this 21-year-old man come while forced confessions under torture and without access to a lawyer are part of the interrogation process in the Islamic Republic system, for which hundreds of documents and witnesses exist. On the other hand, the government media and the Judiciary media made no mention of the widespread killing of thousands of people in January by the suppression forces of the Islamic Republic, nor why the suppression forces used public transportation vehicles to suppress and shoot at the people. So far, no judicial case has been opened for the thousands killed in January, nor has it been clarified whether families have the right to file a complaint for an independent investigation. Furthermore, while the Mizan report itself stated that the forces inside the minibus “fled the location” after the stone-throwing and no one was harmed, the unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the minibus—in which only the driver remained—was cited as one of the serious charges for issuing the execution. This is while human rights organizations and even the people themselves have not reported cases of people harming one another in the streets; conversely, various reports have been published regarding armed plainclothes suppression forces disguised as ordinary people.
Regarding the judicial process of Sasan Azadvar, it is still unclear what type of lawyer (appointed or public defender) this 21-year-old man had access to, or how the court sessions and the defense presented by him and his lawyer were conducted. The rushed process of issuing and implementing the sentence within a few months, without mentioning his arrest date, indicates an unfair process. Additionally, the status of his body is unknown, raising the question of whether this is a case of enforced disappearance. This is while all political detainees are deprived of access to a lawyer during their detention and interrogation in solitary confinement.
Mizan briefly referred to the “holding of court sessions and receiving the defense of the accused and his lawyer” and the subsequent issuance of the verdict by the judge.
Media outlets outside of Iran reported on April 28, 2026, citing relatives of Sasan Azadvar, that the family had been called for a final visit, which led to serious concerns about the implementation of his sentence. His sentence was issued before Nowruz 2026, confirmed by the Supreme Court, and communicated to his lawyer and Sasan Azadvar in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan on April 20, 2026. This verdict was issued by Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Barati.
With the execution of Sasan Azadvar, the number of protesters executed in connection with the January 2026 nationwide protests has reached 10 individuals within a period of 43 days. Before him, Erfan Kiani, Amir-Ali Mir-Jafari, Saleh Mohammadi, Saeid Davoudi, and Mehdi Ghasemi were executed on March 19, 2026, in Qom Central Prison; Amir-Hossein Hatami was executed on April 2, 2026, in Ghezel Hesar Prison; Mohammad-Amin Biglari and Shahin Vahed-Parast were executed on April 5, and Ali Fahim on April 6, 2026, in the same prison.
In this regard, Kurdpa considers the execution of 10 January protesters within three months of the protests to be a clear sign of an unfair and rushed judicial process, carried out based on forced confessions and in the absence of basic legal guarantees, including access to a lawyer. Kurdpa also evaluates the broadcasting of confessions and the manner of reporting on this case to be in line with the government's propaganda goals and to create intimidation in society; an approach that uses punishment as a tool for social pressure and control with the aim of suppressing protests and warning protesters.
