Iran’s Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence of Gilak Dissident Poet Peyman Farahavar

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Peyman Farahavar, a 36-year-old dissident poet from Gilan, known by his pen name Sheyda. He had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Rasht on charges of “rebellion” (baghi) and “enmity against God” (moharebeh). Human rights groups report that Farahavar was subjected to severe torture, denied access to a lawyer, and deprived of family visits during detention.

According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, the death sentence of Peyman Farahavar, a political prisoner and dissident poet from Rasht, has recently been confirmed by Iran’s Supreme Court.

Farahavar was violently arrested in September 2024 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Rasht. After enduring two months of interrogation and torture, he was transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht. During this period, he was denied the right to meet his family and had no access to legal counsel.

His trial took place on May 1, 2025, at Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, presided over by Judge Ahmad Darvish-Kaftar. The court sentenced him to death on charges of “rebellion” (baghi) and “enmity against God” (moharebeh), and to an additional three months in prison for “propaganda against the state.”

Human rights sources state that the charges stemmed from Farahavar’s poetic works and activism protesting environmental destruction, unregulated villa construction, and government policies that impoverished farmers and forced them to sell their lands to non-locals.

Farahavar, known by his pen name Sheyda, had long used his poetry and writings to criticize systemic corruption, environmental degradation, and socio-economic injustices in Gilan Province.