Ex-Prisoners Reveal Torture, Scripted TV Confessions of January Protest Detainees in Isfahan
October 9, 2026 by Roghiyeh Rezaei
IranWire has obtained accounts detailing severe torture and forced confessions extracted from several January 2026 protesters currently facing execution. Three former inmates of Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, held between late January and mid-summer 2026, told IranWire that most of the young men executed or facing capital punishment in Dastgerd hail from working-class and marginalized backgrounds, working as laborers or coming from working-class families.
All three accounts highlight violent arrests at gunpoint, threats against families, torture performed in front of relatives and fellow detainees, threats of sexual assault, including against other detained family members, and the broadcasting of heavily edited camera confessions extracted under torture, which continued even during filming breaks.
Two sources told IranWire that the January protest detainees in Dastgerd are predominantly young and “unassuming.” Contrary to state media propaganda labeling them “terrorists” and “thugs,” prison authorities segregated them from general-crime inmates, strictly prohibiting others from approaching them.
A former cellmate of Shervin Bagherian, an 18-year-old sentenced to death in the Alikhani Square case, recounted that for IRIB’s “Shock” documentary, Shervin was kept before the camera from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM to record a 4-minute segment. Shervin told him he was repeatedly beaten during those hours for failing to deliver lines in the exact tone or phrasing demanded by interrogators. Shervin Bagherian is the same teenager who asked his interrogator what moharebeh (enmity against God) meant, breaking down in tears when told it meant execution.
Horrific Detention Conditions: “Alef-Ta” Torture Ward and Meningitis Outbreaks
The three former prisoners told IranWire that all January protest detainees they encountered at Dastgerd Prison were arrested with extreme violence at gunpoint, alongside threats to their families. One source emphasized that in Ward “Alef-Ta,” the IRGC Intelligence facility within the prison, severe torture, mock executions, forced signatures on blank interrogation sheets, and threats of sexual violence against family members were routine practices.
According to another former political prisoner: “While state media framed them as killers and Mossad agents, prison officials were so confident in their innocence and simplicity that they kept them segregated from general-crime inmates upon arrival and banned others from speaking to them.”
General population inmates were warned that approaching the protest detainees, who were housed in the “Salamat 1” ward due to their young age, would carry severe consequences.
Another former cellmate noted that when senior inmates asked detainees if they had filed formal complaints regarding torture, they replied: “How could anyone complain?” Stressing that most were working-class and largely undereducated, the source added: “They feared being sent back to Alef-Ta.”
Inmates advised some detainees to inform the interrogating magistrate orally about the torture, but “the magistrate in the Alikhani case was himself one of the primary interrogators,” telling detainees upon their return: “I am here specifically to send all of you to the gallows, and I have no other duty until I finish that job.”
A source also reported an outbreak of infectious meningitis among detainees transferred from Alef-Ta to the general ward: “They were sick, severely tortured, and denied medical treatment. The cruelty inflicted on these people is beyond words.” Reports of a prisoner dying from meningitis at Dastgerd had previously surfaced in early September 2026.
Hours of Torture to Film Coerced Confessions for State Media
In late January 2026, Channel 3 of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) aired a documentary titled “Shock: The Arsonists,” featuring self-incriminating confessions from several Alikhani Square detainees. The broadcast showed CCTV footage of protesters attacking fires that appeared to contain the bodies of security personnel using signposts. None of the footage broadcast showed machetes or blades, despite interrogators repeatedly questioning detainees about carrying such weapons.
The 40-minute documentary was published on Aparat on January 29, 2026, with teasers posted days earlier by Iranian police accounts prior to court proceedings, a practice legal experts highlight as a direct violation of the presumption of innocence.
During the broadcast, a masked security officer described his colleagues “clearing” streets near Alikhani Square, using the term “clearing” multiple times to describe dispersing crowds with armed motorcycle units.
Previously, Erfan Nabian, an eyewitness to the Alikhani Square events who was arrested on March 6, 2026, told IranWire that armed officers fired live ammunition at protesters. Nabian noted that interrogators placed a noose around his neck during a mock execution, demanding that he confess to stabbing an officer.
Shervin Bagherian’s former cellmate detailed the grueling filming process: “The final broadcast was 40 minutes, with Shervin appearing for four. He said they filmed from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM, constantly cutting and beating him to force exact word-for-word repetition. They beat him for his tone, his posture, and his facial expression, a full day without food or water under continuous threats.”
Interrogator script enforcement remains visible even in the edited broadcast. At minute 18:25, when a detainee refers to how “the people” reacted to security officers, the interrogator interrupts, prompting the detainee to correct his phrasing to “thugs and rioters.”
Another former prisoner noted that the fact that many detainees were arrested at their homes underscores the baselessness of the charges: “Someone who sets an officer on fire doesn’t simply go home to sleep.”
“Their Cases Were Full of Contradictions; They Couldn’t Even Afford Lawyers”
An informed source speaking to IranWire provided further accounts detailing structural flaws, systemic discrimination, and due process violations surrounding the execution of protesters held in Dastgerd Prison following the January demonstrations.
According to the source, the sole evidence against Amir-Hossein Safari, executed on July 28 in the Alikhani Square case alongside Abolfazl Sepahi, was CCTV footage showing a masked individual wielding a weapon. “Amir-Hossein’s right hand was physically disabled,” the source noted. “In prison, he couldn’t even hold a glass of water.”
The source also revealed details regarding Ghaem (Arian) Hosseini, a 21-year-old Afghan national executed at Dastgerd Prison on August 20, 2026. Upon facing the interrogating magistrate, Hosseini was subjected to xenophobic insults and denied a hearing before being issued a death sentence. Hosseini was the cousin of Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, another young Afghan national executed in the same Alikhani Square case.
The insider emphasized that court-appointed public defenders actively colluded with interrogators, while families faced severe financial distress, such as the father of detainee Shervin Bagherian, who sold his car to afford private legal counsel. Reference was also made to Abbas Akbari Feizabadi, an undereducated rural protester executed after surrendering a weapon he had taken from a government facility without using it, under the belief that he would be permitted to return home.
Months Under the Shadow of Execution
A former cellmate reported that defendants in the Alikhani Square case have been held in restricted isolation and solitary confinement sections for months, subjecting them to continuous psychological torture.
The source described group trials conducted inside the prison’s judicial hall, where the presiding judge dismissed complaints of torture by stating, “It wasn’t enough if you’re still talking! Fingerprint this sheet before I make it worse for you.” The judge reportedly added that the defendants “should never have reached prison and ought to have been shot on the way.”
While IranWire could not independently confirm the judge’s identity for Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, civil rights groups highlight that judges Mohammad-Reza Tavakoli and Morteza Barati, who preside over the branch, have a documented history of issuing heavy sentences and death penalties against protesters, including in the cases of rapper Toomaj Salehi and the 2022 “Khaneh Esfahan” defendants.
The account also detailed the case of Sasan Azadvar, a 21-year-old karate practitioner executed in April/May 2026. Charged with setting a vehicle on fire and burning its occupants, video footage released by state media showed Azadvar striking a police vehicle with a stick, but contained no evidence supporting the lethal allegations.
Deprived of Basic Rights; Harassed by Guards
Sources told IranWire that January protest detainees in Dastgerd Prison are denied access to basic facilities, including libraries, gymnasiums, and work assignments that could help cover prison expenses.
The sources specifically named an official identified as “Hadian,” head of internal security at Dastgerd Prison, accusing him of systematically targeting the detainees with mental harassment and encouraging other inmates to mistreat them.
