HRANA – 13 Azerbaijani-Turk activists have been collectively sentenced to 85 years and 9 months in prison by Branch Two of the Revolutionary Court of Tabriz.
Based on the ruling, Yoroush Mehrali Beiglou was sentenced to six years and two months in prison on the charge of forming an illegal group, and three years and seven months for assembly and collusion against national security. The other twelve defendants, Hamed Yeganehpour, Ebrahim Avaz-zadeh, Araz Ebrahimnejad, Hossein Azadi, Amirhossein Aghaei, Nasser Razmjou, Davoud Shiri, Javad Soodbar, Mehrdad Ghaderi, Ali Babaei, Morteza Nourmohammadi, and Mohammadreza Movahed, were each sentenced to two years and nine months for membership in an illegal group and three years and seven months for assembly and collusion against national security.
The verdict was delivered in person to the case lawyer, Asghar Mohammadi. None of the defendants have received a physical copy of the ruling or an electronic version through Iran’s Sana judicial system.
Court hearings addressing the charges against these Azerbaijani-Turk activists were held in June of this year. Preliminary investigation sessions had previously taken place in January and February 2025 at Branch 15 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Tabriz.
Yoroush Mehrali Beiglou was transferred to Tabriz Prison in February 2024 and released shortly afterward on bail. He had been arrested earlier, in November 2023, in Jolfa County and transferred to The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Tabriz. He has a prior history of arrest and conviction related to his activities.
Hamed Yeganehpour, a resident of Maragheh, was arrested by security forces in Tabriz in November 2023 and released the following month from The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Tabriz.
Araz Ebrahimnejad was arrested in September 2023, transferred to Tabriz Prison, and released on bail in December 2023.
Ebrahim Avaz-zadeh was arrested in October 2023 in Tehran and released on bail from Tabriz Prison in December 2023.
Nasser Razmjou was also arrested by security forces in October 2023 and released on bail from Tabriz Prison in early December 2023.
According to the annual statistical report by HRA’s Department of Statistics and Publications, 302 individuals were arrested in 2025 on the basis of their ethnic status or national minority identity. Arrests of ethnic minority citizens increased by 15.2% compared to the previous one-year period. At least 186 of these arrests were carried out without a judicial warrant. Although in many cases the specific charges and reasons for arrest were not disclosed, given the past record of security agencies, it is likely that these individuals were detained due to activities related to ethnic rights.
