Appeal for retrial for Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani Rejected
April 22, 2025 – Iran HRM has received reports confirming the request for judicial review (appeal for retrial) for political prisoner Behrouz Ehsani has been rejected. This follows the earlier rejection of Mehdi Hassani’s judicial review request. Both political prisoners are now at imminent risk of execution.
On the evening of Tuesday, April 22, 2025, defense attorney Adel Ahmadian announced on his X account that the judicial review request for death row prisoner Mehdi Hassani had been denied. He noted that Branch 29 of the Supreme Court rejected the retrial without even requesting the case file from Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court.
He stated: “For the second time, the retrial request for Mehdi Hassani (sentenced to death on charges of baghi, or armed rebellion) was rejected by Branch 29 of the Supreme Court without even requesting the case file from Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. None of the judicial authorities allowed me to review the case file.”
Previously, in March 2025, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had also rejected a request for judicial review.
In late September 2024, political prisoners Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani were sentenced to death by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. On January 7, 2025, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld their death sentences without the case going through the appeals process.
Following the transfer of their cases to the implementation unit of the judiciary, the two prisoners were moved from Evin Prison to Qezel Hesar Prison on Sunday, January 27, 2025. They are currently held in the political prisoners’ ward of Qezel Hesar.
About Mehdi Hassani
Mehdi Hassani, born in 1976 in Rey, is 48 years old, married, and the father of three children. He was arrested on September 11, 2022, in Zanjan and taken to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, operated by the Ministry of Intelligence. He was subjected to prolonged physical and psychological torture before being transferred to Ward 8 of Evin.
His charges include: baghi (armed rebellion), moharebeh (waging war against God), efsad fel-arz (corruption on Earth), membership in the Mojahedin (MEK), gathering classified information, and conspiracy against national security.
About Behrouz Ehsani
Born in 1955 in Urmia, Behrouz Ehsani is 70 years old, married with two children, and residing in Tehran. He is a high school graduate and self-employed, also supporting an elderly mother.
He was arrested in November 2022, during the peak of the nationwide protests, at his home and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. After three and a half months of torture and interrogation, he was moved to Ward 4 of Evin.
His charges mirror those of Mehdi Hassani: baghi, moharebeh, efsad fel-arz, MEK membership, gathering classified data, and conspiracy against national security.
Amnesty International Urges Halt of Executions
In January 2025, Amnesty International issued a public statement calling for the immediate suspension of the execution orders for both political prisoners. The organization emphasized that both men were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement, in order to extract confessions. Amnesty described their trials before Tehran’s Revolutionary Court as “grossly unfair.”
February 27, 2025 Amnesty issued urgent action for both political prisoner at imminent risk of execution after the Supreme Court rejected their request for a judicial review.
