Iran May 26, 2026 – Bijan Kazemi was sentenced to more than 37 years in prison after 16 months in detention, while reports say the brother of an executed PMOI member has been transferred to a psychiatric facility amid continued pressure on prisoners’ families.
Bijan Kazemi, a 45-year-old political prisoner, was sentenced by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, to a total of 37 years and six months in prison after 16 months of detention, interrogation, and alleged torture, according to reports released this week.
Kazemi was arrested on January 20, 2025, in Kuhdasht and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where reports say he was subjected to prolonged interrogation and torture. After the evacuation of Evin Prison in July 2025, he was moved to Fashafouyeh Prison before being transferred back to Evin in October.
A statement published in July 2025 said interrogators accused Kazemi of providing weapons connected to an attack targeting two senior judiciary officials. Kazemi had previously been arrested in April 2020 and spent more than two years imprisoned in Khorramabad.
In a separate development, Mojtaba Taghavi, 58, was transferred from prison to Aminabad psychiatric hospital, according to reports. Taghavi is the brother of Mohammad Taghavi, a PMOI member executed on March 31, 2026.
Mojtaba Taghavi had reportedly been arrested in March 2024 because of ties to his brother and was later sentenced to six years and seven months in prison. Reports say authorities repeatedly disrupted his access to medication and intensified pressure after his brother’s execution.
The cases come months after a wave of executions involving PMOI members and other political prisoners. Since July 2025, ten PMOI members have been executed, including Hamed Validi and Mohammad Massoum-Shahi on April 20, 2026, as well as Vahid Baniamerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar Daneshvarkar, and Abolhassan Montazer, several of whom were executed between March 30 and April 4, 2026.
More broadly, at least 20 January uprising protesters have been executed since March 19, according to compiled reports, while international legal experts recently warned that executions in Iran have reached levels “not seen in nearly four decades.”
The sentencing of Bijan Kazemi and transfer of Mojtaba Taghavi add to growing concerns over lengthy prison terms, treatment of detainees’ families, and continued pressure on political prisoners in Iran.
Salavati, known as the “Judge of Death,” is notorious for using fabricated charges to issue hundreds of execution and prison orders. He has also been one of the regime’s primary tools for hostage diplomacy, presiding over the sham trials and sentencing of American and Western citizens. He has been sanctioned by the EU (2011) and the US (2019) for gross human rights violations.