Iran’s Supreme Court upholds death sentence for a fruit seller arrested in connection with nationwide protests

Editor's note: This story was translated from the original VOA Persian article.

A U.S.-based rights organization says that Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence against a fruit seller convicted in connection with anti-government protests earlier this year.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the media arm of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, reported Monday that the court reached the decision in the case against Arman Marefati.

The group also said that two female protesters arrested in connection with the protests have been sentenced to a combined 44 years in prison.

Marefati was convicted in March 2026 by an Islamic revolutionary court in Tehran on charges alleging participation in activities against national security, entering religious sites with the intent to destroy them, and participating in the burning of a mosque and a religious seminary.

He has been transferred to from Greater Tehran Prison to Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj in June, where political and death-row prisoners are held.

His two co-defendants in the case, Mehrdad Mohammadiania and Ashkan Maleki, were executed in June after they were convicted of allegedly cooperating with Israel and hostile governments, creating insecurity and public fear, destroying and setting fire to public property, and participating in activities against national security.

Rights group Amnesty International said the executions were carried out without advance notice to their families or lawyers.

Marefati, who is believed to be 38 years old, is originally from Saqqez County and lived in Tehran when he was arrested during nationwide protests in January 2026. He worked at a fruit and vegetable market, HRANA reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in early September, accused Iranian officials of crimes against humanity over the regime's repression, killing, and execution of protesters and called for them to be brought to justice.

The U.S. State Department in its 2026 Human Rights report has also condemned the issuance of death sentences against protesters and government opponents on security-related charges, including capital charges known locally as Moharebeh and cooperation with foreign countries.

Thousands of Iranians participated in protests that began late last year and continued into this year over economic hardships, including a sharp devaluation of the country’s currency. From the outset, however, demonstrators called for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

President Trump told world leaders in September that Iran had killed 72,000 of its citizens this year.

Iran has claimed the number of deaths related to the protests to be at 3,038; however, a recent U.N. fact-finding mission concluded that true figures are "significantly" higher than the government reported.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Iranian authorities of using torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and other forms of coercion to extract confessions from detainees, which are then used as evidence in prosecutions, including cases carrying the death penalty.

Rights groups have also raised concerns that defendants are subjected to unfair trials based on forced confessions and vague or politically motivated national security charges, as well as allegations they say are fabricated or unsupported by credible evidence.

Amnesty International and other rights organizations have documented cases in which defendants were denied meaningful access to lawyers and due process, raising concerns about the reliability of convictions and the use of the death penalty against protesters and government opponents.

Source: voanews.com, Staff, November 2, 2026

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