Iran executes January protest detainee in Karaj

Hengaw – Sunday, August 16, 2026-- Iranian authorities executed Shahram Sadeghi, who was arrested in connection with the January 2026 protests, at a prison in Karaj, Alborz province.

Mizan, the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, reported that Sadeghi was executed at dawn on August 16, 2026, but did not specify the prison where the execution took place.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has learned that Sadeghi’s case was heard by the Karaj Revolutionary Court, which sentenced him to death and ordered the confiscation of all his property on the charge of “operational activities in support of Israel, the United States, and hostile groups and countries,” under Article 1 of Iran’s law on increased punishment for espionage and cooperation with Israel and hostile states against national security and interests.

Iranian state media alleged that during the January protests, Sadeghi drove a vehicle toward law enforcement officers at Golzar intersection in Karaj, injuring seven of them. One of the officers was reportedly left in a coma for a period of time.

State media further alleged that Sadeghi set fire to his vehicle following the incident and was later arrested at a drug rehabilitation center.

Despite the rapid judicial process leading to his death sentence and execution, no detailed or transparent information has been made available regarding the proceedings against Sadeghi, including the conduct of his trial, the investigation and interrogation process, or the specific evidence used to support the charges that resulted in his death sentence.

Source: Hengaw, Staff, August 16, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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