Yousef Mehrad

Yusuf Mehrad was from Ardebil. He was sentenced to death on the charge of insulting the prophet through his work on the telegram channel "Criticism of superstition and religion" and he was executed along with Sadrollah Fazli Zare, the other defendant in this case, on May 8, 2023.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='41933'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2022/hranews/a-36941/'> He was arrested by security forces in Ardabil and then transferred to Arak. According to HRANA, Farhad Chehreh Sakomleh, Yousef Mehrad, Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, Mohammad Zohrevandi, Akram Safaei Tavana, Ali Mohammad Fallah Rashkala, Kobra Imani, and Samira Rezapour were arrested by the security forces in June and July 2020 in connection with the administration and membership of a telegram channel entitled "Criticism of Superstition and Religion". Regarding the reason for investigating the case of all these detainees in Arak, the HRANA source reported that the investigator had previously debated Mr. Fazli Zare in the Telegram channel with the pseudonym "Aureliano" and filed a case. Also, according to HRANA, Yusuf Mehrad, and Sadrollah Fazli Zare were kept in solitary confinement for two months after their arrest and were denied the right to visit and make phone calls with their families for eight months. Based on another report from HRANA, except for Mr. Yousef Mehrad, Mr. Sadrollah Fazli Zare, and Mr. Farhad Chehreh Sakomleh, the other defendants in this case were released on bail. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41934'> <reference source='https://www.humanrights-ir.org/detail/2440'> According to the Center for Human Rights Defenders, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazli were sentenced to death by the first branch of the Criminal Court of Markazi province on the charge of Sab-ul-Nabi (insulting the prophet). According to HRANA's report, this trial was presided over by Judge Mehrandish. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41939'> <reference source='https://www.humanrights-ir.org/detail/2440'> Due to the deterioration of his physical condition, he was transferred to a hospital outside Arak prison. While announcing this news, the Center for Human Rights Defenders wrote that during the past weeks, some security and judicial officials visited the prison and put Mr. Mehrad under psychological pressure and prevented his transfer to the hospital despite his deteriorating health. According to another report from the Center for Human Rights Defenders, the security and judicial forces in the hospital continued to torture Yousef Mehrad psychologically and threatened him with statements such as "You will be executed, and we will execute you." </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41935'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2022/hranews/a-36941/'> According to HRANA, Farhad Chehreh Sakomleh, Yousef Mehrad, and Sadrpllah Fazeli Zare were sentenced to eight years in prison by the first branch of the Arak Revolutionary Court for the charges of forming and running an illegal group, propaganda against the state, and insulting the leader, in accordance with Article 134 of the Islamic Criminal Code. Their sentence was reduced to six years in prison after accepting not to appeal the verdict. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41936'> <reference source='https://www.humanrights-ir.org/detail/2454'> The Center for Human Rights Defenders reported that the one death sentence for Yousef Mehrad and three death sentences for Saadollah Fazeli on the charge of sacrilege and insulting the prophet has been approved by the Supreme Court of the country. According to this report, these two prisoners have been repeatedly threatened and psychologically abused by the judicial and security authorities. Davoudi, the deputy prosecutor of Markazi Province, in a threatening meeting with Yousef Mehrad and Saadollah Fazeli, said to them: > I'll execute you myself because you have insulted the Prophet. According to the report, by order of the prosecutor, Mehrad and Fazeli Zare are being denied phone calls with their families, and they are not allowed to have any contact with the outside of the prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41942'> <reference source='https://t.me/emtedadnet/57038'> In an interview with Emtedad, Mohammad Arman, the court-appointed attorney of Yousef Mehrad said the verdict issued by the criminal court of a Markazi province and its confirmation in the Supreme Court of the country is "unfair" and emphasized Article 263 of the Criminal Code, stating that his client should be acquitted based on the available evidence. He also announced the reduction of Mr. Mehrad's sentence after accepting the decision of the Revolutionary Court. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41941'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2022/hranews/a-33712/'> According to HRANA, he went on a hunger strike in protest of being denied phone calls. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41937'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2022/hranews/a-36941/'> HRANA reported that Farhad Chehreh Sakomleh, Yousef Mehrad, and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare are serving their sentences in Arak prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50983'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2023/hranews/a-40924/'> According to HRANA, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were transferred to solitary cells in Arak prison. Their sudden transfer has raised concerns about their situation. A source close to the families of the prisoners said in a conversation with HRANA that "the families kept silent until now in the hope of saving their children, but now we see that the situation is going against the promises [that the authorities] made and the concern about their fate has become more serious." According to HRANA's source, "other prisoners informed the families of the transfer of these two prisoners to solitary confinement for the purpose of executing their death sentence. Nothing has been officially communicated to the families or lawyers regarding the execution, nor has there been any announcement about the last visit." Now the worried families don't know how to interpret this untimely transfer due to the prison's lack of accountability. "They are now on their way to prison to find out the fate of their loved ones." </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50986'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2023/hranews/a-40933/'> According to HRANA, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare returned to the general population ward of Arak prison after spending a day in solitary confinement. According to HRANA's sources: > The prison authorities have not yet provided any answer regarding the reason for their transfer, and the Mehrad and Fazeli families are still worried about their condition. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50993'> <reference source='https://twitter.com/masoudkazemi81/status/1655507706914979840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1655507706914979840%7Ctwgr%5Eea6ab4f549ff1bbadbd71c49fd7b6bcc6d429f4d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fmy'> Independent journalist Masoud Kazemi wrote about the activities of Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazli Zare: > After several hours of studying the contents of their Telegram channels and Sadrollah's personal channel, I can say with certainty that they were criticizing religious superstitions in the Telegram space only with sharp and clear language." At the same time, Mizan news agency announced the execution of Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazli Zare, writing that Sadrollah Fazli Zare "managed 20 groups and channels of sacrilege and atheism" and Yousef Mehrad "was the main admin and operator of 15 groups and channels and was widely active in the fields of anti-Islam, promoting atheism, and sacrilege. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50982'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/3nI0VKp'> According to the Judidciary's Mizan news agency, the death sentences of Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were executed in Arak prison. BBC Persian reported: > The judicial authorities executed them without even informing their families. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='51179'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/3Ib6Xu4'> In a conversation with Vokala Press, Yousef Mehrad's defense attorney said that the indictment mentions that according to the opinion of jurists, those convicted of Sab-ul-Nabi (insulting the prophet) are not subject to repentance. He announced that considering that my client "had denied many accusations such as burning the Quran or insulting (Shia) Imams, and he insisted that he had exhibited certain behaviors online due to negligence and ignorance, I advanced my defense from the very beginning in line with the client's statements and the case documents around the client's intellectual disability and the Sharia standards manifested in Article 263 of the Islamic Penal Code." He continued: > According to the aforementioned article, when the accused of Sab-ul-Nabi, claims that his statements were made out of ignorance, negligence, mistake, or in a state of drunkenness, anger, or slip of the tongue, or without paying attention to the meaning of the words, or quoting from another person, it is not considered as Sab-ul-Nabi (insulting the prophet). My belief and the vast majority of jurists' have been that in this regard, the mere claim of the accused is sufficient to acquit him of the accusation of Sab-ul-Nabi; This was never accepted in any of the courts in our case. In the defense of Mr. Mehrad, while fully supporting the crimes that he explicitly denied committing (such as the burning of the Qur'an and insulting the imams), regarding some other charges, in addition to the above defenses, I also brought up repentance and argued that if it is assumed that the charges are proven and if you do not want to accept my defenses based on Article 263 and its amendment, according to Article 4 of the Islamic Penal Code, considering the client's statements of deep remorse and regret, his repentance must be accepted; According to the last mentioned article, "in the crimes punishable under Sharia, except for Qadzf (false accusation of sexual affair) and Moharebeh (waging war against Islam), if the accused repents before the crime is proven and his repentance and reformation are proved to the judge, he will be spared the Sharia punishment. This argument was also never accepted in any of the investigating courts, despite the fact that his repentance was included in the minutes of the investigation session at my request. Referring to the charge of Koran burning by Yousef Mehrad, Mohammad Arman clarified: > They confirmed the Quran burning based solely on the judge's knowledge; Thus, from the examining the voice and accent of a person in a video who was burning the Quran and his head was not clear in that video, they confirmed that that person was the late Mr. Mehrad and stated the facts in that way in the indictment. I strongly objected to it during the appeal stage due to the invalidity of the inferential science for establishing guilt. In addition, despite the fact that insulting the Shia Imama, was not clearly and legally explained to the late Mehrad, nevertheless, in the ruling, he was also convicted of those and received the death sentence. > He added: The violation of the law under the pretext of Article 167 of the Constitution was my biggest problem in this case. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>