Political prisoner Azad Peykarifar freed from Evin prison after nearly three years

Azad (Ali) Peykarifar, a political prisoner from Tehran, was released from Evin prison on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, after nearly three years in detention. The Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) news agency said his release came after 22 months were cut from his sentence.

The Islamic Republic's security forces arrested Mr Peykarifar in Tehran on 13 November 2023 and sent him to Evin prison. He was held there from then until the day of his release.

The Tehran Revolutionary Court's verdict

Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari, a judge whose name appears in the cases of many political prisoners and protesters, sentenced Mr Peykarifar in January 2024 to five years in prison on a charge of "assembly and collusion to commit a crime" and to one year in prison and two years of internal exile on a charge of "propaganda against the system".

The appeals court upheld the prison sentence but acquitted him of the two-year exile. HRANA has not published further details of the activities that gave rise to the charges.

Political prisoners in the Islamic Republic's jails

Mr Peykarifar's release comes as a large number of political prisoners remain in the Islamic Republic's prisons under heavy sentences, and some of them are denied medical treatment. In recent days a group of doctors and medical staff reported on the deteriorating condition of Hamid Gharehasanlou, a doctor imprisoned in Yazd prison, and Hamzeh Savari, a political prisoner in Ghezel Hesar prison, went on hunger strike in solidarity with Mokhtar Albushokeh.

Charges such as "assembly and collusion" and "propaganda against the system" are among the most common that the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Courts use to imprison activists, protesters and critics; human rights organisations have repeatedly reported that these courts deny fair trials, deprive defendants of a lawyer of their choice and hand down sentences based on forced confessions.

Azad Peykarifar was released from Evin prison after nearly three years in detention on charges of "assembly and collusion" and "propaganda against the system".