IranWire has obtained information indicating that Hassan Maslavi, a 38-year-old Ahwazi Arab citizen and political prisoner, learned of his death sentence amid the recent tensions and ceasefires related to the 40-day war. Though the sentence was issued in 2023, he and his family had been kept completely unaware of it. An informed source and former co-defendant of Hassan told IranWire that until he realized he had been handed a death sentence on charges of “moharebeh” (enmity against God), he believed he was merely being held in “temporary detention.” Previously, the Karoun Human Rights Organization had also reported that his death sentence was issued in absentia in 2023, and the process of officially notifying Mr. Maslavi of his execution order took more than two years.
According to this informed source, he comes from a “simple” and “impoverished” family that cannot even speak Persian and does not know how to follow up on his judicial case. Who is Hassan Maslavi, and why does he face the threat of execution?
Who is Hassan Maslavi, and why was he sentenced to death?
Hassan Maslavi is a cultural activist and Arab protester who was arrested in 2022. He was sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Mahshahr Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Seyyed Mehran Mehmannavaz, on charges of “moharebeh” and “membership in Arab groups opposed to the Islamic Republic.”
