Reprisal against the families of those executed or killed in the protests, aimed at silencing dissent
Mashallah Karami, the father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a young protester executed by Iranian authorities, has been sentenced to over eight years in prison on multiple charges. Mohammad Mehdi Karami was one of two young men executed on January 7, 2023, after being convicted in what international observers condemned as an unfair trial. He had been accused of participating in the killing of a member of the Basij militia during nationwide protests.
Mashallah Karami was arrested on August 22, 2023, after security forces raided his home, confiscating his mobile phone and personal belongings. For months, his family was unaware of his whereabouts until he was finally located in the central prison of Karaj, where he remains incarcerated. During the raid, security forces reportedly destroyed a cabinet containing memorabilia of his executed son, including medals and certificates, and burned his clothes. The ongoing harassment and intimidation by the authorities forced Karami’s wife and another son to flee their home and move to an undisclosed location.
On April 23, 2024, the Revolutionary Court in Karaj held a hearing for Mashallah Karami’s case. The court sentenced him to five years in prison for “collusion and assembly to commit crimes against national security” and an additional year for “propaganda against the regime.” In a separate ruling on August 15, 2024, Branch 102 of the Criminal Court in Nazarabad sentenced him to another seven years and eight months in prison for “money laundering” and fourteen months for “acquiring illicit wealth,” alongside a fine of 19 billion tomans and the confiscation of his assets.
Legal experts and human rights advocates have criticized the charges, asserting that Karami had no access to public funds or official positions that could enable embezzlement, bribery, or other forms of financial misconduct. The court’s verdict has been condemned as part of a broader campaign of reprisal against the families of those executed or killed in the protests, aimed at silencing dissent and deterring others from seeking justice.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion from Karaj, was executed while on a dry hunger strike protesting his death sentence. He and Mohammad Hosseini were arrested on November 5, 2022, during a ceremony marking 40 days since the death of Hadis Najafi, another protester. Both men were subjected to severe torture and coerced into giving false confessions, according to reports from human rights organizations.
The circumstances of their arrests, the denial of access to legal representation, and the expedited trial process have been widely criticized as gross violations of international human rights standards, including those enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. These events underscore the ongoing human rights crisis in Iran, where the judiciary and security apparatus continue to suppress dissent with impunity.
