According to human rights organizations sounding the alarm over an escalation of repression, Iran is preparing to carry out the first execution of a protester following the mass arrests (more than 10,000) that came in the wake of widespread anti-government demonstrations.

As reported by Iran Human Rights and the National Union for Democracy in Iran, 26-year-old Erfan Soltani is due to be executed by hanging on Wednesday, after being arrested last week during protests in the city of Karaj.

According to sources cited by Iran Human Rights, Soltani’s family was informed that he has been sentenced to death and that the execution has been scheduled for January 14. The organizations note that details of the case cannot be independently verified, as the country is under an extensive communications blackout.

The director of Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said that “the widespread killings of unarmed protesters in recent days by the Islamic Republic are reminiscent of the regime’s crimes in the 1980s, which have been recognized as crimes against humanity.” He added that “the risk of mass and extrajudicial executions of protesters is extremely serious.”

In the same statement, the organization called on the international community to take action under the principle of the “Responsibility to Protect,” stressing that there is an obligation to safeguard unarmed protesters from mass killings by the Iranian state and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It also appealed to citizens and civil society organizations in democratic countries to pressure their governments.

The National Union for Democracy in Iran has called for international mobilization to prevent Soltani’s execution, emphasizing that “his only ‘crime’ was demanding freedom for Iran.” “Be his voice,” the organization said in a post on the X platform. According to NUFD, the 26-year-old was reportedly denied access to a lawyer during the proceedings.

The same sources report that Soltani was charged with “waging war against God,” an offense that carries the death penalty in Iran.