{"id":238231,"date":"2026-01-14T21:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/238231\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T21:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:40:12","slug":"no-word-on-fate-of-iran-protester-due-to-be-put-to-death-says-relative-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/238231\/","title":{"rendered":"No word on fate of Iran protester due to be put to death, says relative | Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

A family member of Erfan Soltani, the first Iranian protester sentenced to death, has said they have no idea if he\u2019s still alive after the deadline for his execution passed with no word from the authorities.<\/p>\n

Soltani, a 26-year-old clothing shop employee, was arrested in Karaj, a city north-west of Tehran, last Thursday after participating in protests and was due to be executed on Wednesday, according to rights groups.<\/p>\n

Since his arrest, the family have received little news about his condition besides a brief, scheduled visit before his expected execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if he\u2019s alive or dead. I spoke to his [nuclear] family yesterday and all I know is that they were trying to visit him in prison. I haven\u2019t slept in two days,\u201d said Somayeh, a 45-year-old close relative of Erfan\u2019s who lives abroad.<\/p>\n

Somayeh and other members of the family anxiously stayed up until dawn waiting to hear news, knowing that Iranian authorities typically carry out executions around the morning call to prayers, but dawn came and went without any announcement about his fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stop thinking about Erfan. The uncertainty is killing me,\u201d Somayeh said through tears. \u201cHow can anyone have the heart to put a rope round the neck of such a kind child and send him to die?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MassacresMassacres and executions: what are we hearing from inside Iran? | The Latest<\/p>\n

Soltani has become a symbol of defiance for Iranian activists as authorities intensify their crackdown on a nationwide protest movement. Rights groups say they fear there are many other cases like Soltani\u2019s that are unknown due to an internet blackout in Iran, but that his case highlights the speed at which authorities are sentencing protesters.<\/p>\n

Soltani was denied access to a lawyer and legal defence, the Norway-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights said.<\/p>\n

More than 18,000 people have been arrested and at least 2,571 killed over the last two weeks, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists news agency (HRANA). Protests first started on 28 December after a sudden slide in the value of the country\u2019s currency and have since spread nationwide and expanded to demands for political reforms.<\/p>\n

Rights groups have urged Iran to halt the execution of Soltani and other protesters arrested, with Amnesty International expressing fears that Iranian authorities could \u201conce again resort to swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush and deter dissent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rights monitors have said Iran often sentences protesters in trials that last minutes. Soltani was given the death penalty just four days after his arrest \u2013 a time period that Iranian human rights activists say<\/a> deprived him of due process.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s chief justice signalled on Wednesday that trials and executions would be swift, telling state media: \u201cWe should do it now\u201d to have an effect on protesters. Other judicial officials said protesters would be charged as \u201cenemies of God\u201d, a crime that can be met with the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Last year, Iran hanged at least 1,500 people, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.<\/p>\n

Soltani told his family that he had received a call from Iranian intelligence a few hours before his arrest, which he ignored. Despite threats from security services, he continued to join protests.<\/p>\n

Somayeh said: \u201cOur Erfan is a kid who is innocent and peacefully wants to exercise his rights. That\u2019s all he did. Joined his compatriots to peacefully protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soltani works in a clothing shop and is passionate about fashion, fitness and Persepolis FC, a Tehran football club. His family described him as \u201cthe most loving brother\u201d and his \u201cmother\u2019s best friend\u201d.<\/p>\n

Somayeh said: \u201cHe is someone so dear to my heart, a brave child, a child who would never resort to violence, an incredibly calm and wonderful soul who means more to me than I can put into words. Please, world, help save our child.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family member of Erfan Soltani, the first Iranian protester sentenced to death, has said they have no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-238231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}