Artin Ghazanfari denied regular appeal, given 10 days to object

Artin Ghazanfari, a Baha'i photojournalist sentenced to 26 years in prison by Tehran's Revolutionary Court, has been denied the right to a regular appeal. According to a source close to his family, the sentence can only be challenged before the Supreme Court, not at an appeals court, and the deadline to object has been set at 10 days instead of the usual 20. This report follows DIAR's earlier report on his 26-year prison sentence.

The same source says Artin Ghazanfari was forced to choose his lawyer from the list of lawyers approved by the head of the judiciary, and his lawyer was not allowed to speak with the judge handling the case.

Sentence doubled under the espionage law

Of the 26 years, 20 are for "media activity", five for "assembly and collusion" and one for "propaganda against the system". According to the source close to the family, the judge applied the law on aggravated punishment for espionage to the media charge, raising a sentence that would normally be 10 years to 20. He has also been barred from membership in political groups, from activity on social media and from leaving the country, and his mobile phone has been ordered confiscated.

Artin Ghazanfari was arrested at his home in Tehran in the month of Dey, during the days of the Dey uprising (December 2025–January 2026), and is now being held in Greater Tehran prison.

Pressure on Baha'is in recent weeks

His sentence comes amid a wave of pressure on Baha'i citizens. On 27 October, ten plainclothes agents raided three homes belonging to one Baha'i family in Isfahan and took away gold, cash, electronic devices and household items. In Joybar, Mazandaran, an appeals court upheld a prison sentence and a ten-year deprivation of civil rights for Noyan Hejazi on the charge of "propagating the Baha'i faith" on social media.

For a Baha'i photojournalist, the Islamic Republic has closed even the usual route to challenge a 26-year prison sentence.