More than 130 days after the arrest of Ehsan Rostami, a 36-year-old Kurdish cultural activist from Harsin in Kermanshah Province, concerns have intensified over the possible issuance of a death sentence against him on the grave charge of “baghi” (armed rebellion against the state).
Ehsan Rostami was arrested on August 20, 2025, in Tehran together with his cousin Ramin Rostami, a 29-year-old cultural activist and electrical engineer, by agents of the intelligence services and was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
Recently, Branch Five of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office formally charged Ehsan Rostami with “baghi” and transferred him to the prison’s quarantine ward.
Both detainees had previously gone on hunger strike in protest against their detention conditions and the denial of basic rights, including access to a lawyer, phone calls, and family visits.
As part of continued security pressure on the family, Jahangir Rostami, Ehsan’s 63-year-old father and a member of the Harsin Teachers’ Trade Association, was violently arrested at his home on October 17, 2025.
He was eventually released temporarily on December 16, 2025, after posting a heavy bail of 1.5 billion tomans.
