Political prisoner Naser Bakrzadeh at imminent risk after Iran upholds death sentence
Hengaw – Sunday, April 26, 2026
Political prisoner Naser Bakrzadeh is at imminent risk after Iran’s Supreme Court, in an accelerated process, upheld his death sentence for a third time. Bakrzadeh, a Kurdish prisoner held in Urmia Central Prison, was severely beaten after the ruling was formally delivered to him.
According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Bakrzadeh was summoned to the prison’s sentence enforcement office on Saturday, April 25, 2026, where he was officially notified of the final death sentence issued by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court. He had previously been sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia on charges of “spying for Israel.”
Sources inside the prison reported that during the notification process, the official responsible for carrying out sentences threatened Bakrzadeh with the imminent implementation of the execution order. After he protested the threats and the unfair handling of his case, he was insulted and severely beaten by the same official.
The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence only ten days after the case was referred to it, despite having twice previously overturned the same ruling because of legal flaws and insufficient evidence. Seydad Shirzad, one of Bakrzadeh’s lawyers, had earlier stated that Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia issued the death sentence for a third time while disregarding the legal arguments and technical deficiencies previously identified by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court.
Naser Bakrzadeh, 26, from Urmia, was first arrested on August 9, 2023, and later released. He was rearrested on January 2, 2024, by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and transferred to the Al-Mahdi detention center, where he was subjected to pressure and torture aimed at extracting forced confessions. Throughout his interrogations, he was denied access to a lawyer and barred from meeting his family.
Bakrzadeh had previously been sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia, presided over by Judge Shahini, on charges of “spying for Israel.” That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court and referred to a parallel branch of the Revolutionary Court.
