Two men have been sentenced to death by a court in Markazi province for “insulting the Prophet of Islam”.
The ruling by the First Branch of the Arak Criminal Court was issued on Thursday, April 22, according to HRANA news agency.
One of the prisoners is named Yousef Mehrdad. The identity of the other defendant has not been announced.
Mehrad was arrested by security forces at his home in Ardabil, northwest Iran, last June and transferred to Arak Prison. He was reportedly then held in solitary confinement for two months and denied contact with his family for eight months.
He was separately charged with "propaganda against the regime", "formation of an illegal group", "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic" and "insulting the leadership".
Narges Mohammadi, the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, also wrote on Instagram that Mehrad has three young children.
The judiciary of the Islamic Republic has not published any information about the charges against these two citizens.
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