Supreme Court upholds death sentence of Arman Marefati, Dey uprising detainee

The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Arman Marefati, one of those detained during the Dey 2026 uprising. The news was published on Monday, 2 November 2026. Arman Marefati is held in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, and with the Supreme Court's confirmation the danger that the sentence will be carried out has become more serious.

He was sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Abolghasem Salavati. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence only eight days after the first-instance ruling, although the law gives a defendant 20 days to appeal.

Charges and proceedings

The Islamic Republic's judiciary has charged Arman Marefati with "participating in action against national security" and with taking part in setting fire to a mosque and a seminary during the Dey protests. Published reports on the case say he had no access to a lawyer of his choice at the first trial and that the Supreme Court review was rushed.

Amnesty International had earlier included Arman Marefati on its list of protesters at imminent risk of execution in Ghezel Hesar prison and called on Islamic Republic officials to quash the protesters' death sentences.

Death sentences issued and upheld at speed

The confirmation of Arman Marefati's sentence is part of a pattern in which revolutionary courts are issuing death sentences against detainees of the Dey uprising one after another. In recent days the Revolutionary Court in Kerman sentenced Shayan Shakibaei to death, and Prince Reza Pahlavi's office warned of the imminent execution of Shahab Zohdi in the same Ghezel Hesar prison.

The Supreme Court upheld Arman Marefati's death sentence before the legal deadline for appeal had expired.