Izeh Revolutionary Court sentences 19 Bahmai residents to prison over a memorial ceremony

Branch 1 of the Izeh Revolutionary Court has sentenced 19 residents of Bahmai county to two years of discretionary (taazir) imprisonment each. The charge against them is "disrupting national security", and the only thing the indictment attributes to them is attending the memorial ceremony of Hossein Pooshe, one of the fallen of the January uprising, in Baghmalek.

According to information that reached free Persian-language media, the indictment in this case lists three "acts" for these citizens: taking part in the memorial ceremony in Baghmalek despite living in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, chanting protest slogans collectively, and making the victory sign with two fingers. The date of the verdict, and whether the convicted have appealed it, is still unclear.

Arrested on the way back from the memorial

The 19 were arrested by security agents on 17 February 2026, on their way back from the memorial ceremony of Hossein Pooshe in Baghmalek, Khuzestan, and taken to Sheiban prison in Ahvaz. They were released on temporary bail on 4 March, and now, eight months later, the Revolutionary Court has handed each of them two years in prison.

Among the convicted are several members of one family, a sign that relatives and fellow townspeople of the fallen of the January uprising remain under pressure from the Islamic Republic's judiciary.

Criminalising mourning for the fallen

The verdict follows a pattern the Islamic Republic has pursued in the months since the January uprising: it treats mourning for those killed as a security crime and punishes their families and friends with summonses, arrests and prison sentences. Last week, too, the memorial ceremony of Alisina Mostafavi in Kerman was cancelled under pressure from government forces, and in Ilam 11 people were arrested on charges of playing a role in the January uprising.

In this case, too, the sweeping charge of "disrupting national security" rests on acts such as chanting slogans and making the victory sign, acts that are not counted as crimes in any free legal system.

The Izeh Revolutionary Court sentenced 19 people to two years in prison solely for attending the memorial ceremony of one of the fallen, chanting slogans and making the victory sign.