Iran Issues Death Sentence Against Student Ehsan Faridi Amid Corruption Scandal in Judiciary
Hussain Hazbavi 
ANA – Tabriz | May 2025
Iranian authorities have secretly sentenced 22-year-old student Ehsan Faridi to death on charges of “spreading corruption on earth”, a move that has only recently come to light despite the verdict being issued months ago.
Faridi, a manufacturing engineering student at the University of Tabriz, was first arrested in March 2024 by Iran’s Law Enforcement Intelligence Organization. After nearly a month in detention, he was released on bail, only to be re-arrested in June following a summons to Branch 15 of the Tabriz Prosecutor’s Office, known for handling so-called national security cases.
His death sentence was issued in February 2025 by Judge Ali Sheykhlou of Branch 3 of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court — a judge notorious for handing down heavy sentences against political and civil activists. The verdict was reportedly based on intelligence reports and an indictment filed by a prosecutor later exposed and convicted for corruption.
The prosecutor in question, Ali Mousavi Aghdam, was arrested in November 2024 — just months after initiating Faridi’s case — for leading a judicial corruption network, accepting bribes, falsifying evidence, and fabricating legal charges. He was swiftly dismissed from the judiciary.
Despite serious legal objections raised by Faridi and his lawyer, the court proceeded with the capital punishment ruling, without providing credible evidence — a fact now under scrutiny as the case is reviewed by Iran’s Supreme Court.
Faridi had previously received a six-month sentence for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, a separate charge often used against peaceful dissidents and activists.
His family, devastated yet determined, holds onto hope that the Supreme Court will overturn the sentence, especially considering the flawed process and Judge Sheykhlou’s record of being overruled in similar cases.
This case unfolds against the backdrop of a brutal wave of executions in Iran. Human rights organizations report that at least 230 prisoners, including 8 women, were executed in just the first three months of 2025 — more than double the executions during the same period last year. Among those at risk are roughly 60 political and security-related detainees currently on death row.
As the regime continues to silence dissent through death sentences and repression, the case of Ehsan Faridi serves as yet another stark reminder of the growing judicial crisis in Iran.
