An Iranian swimmer who was arrested on his way home when he ended up in a crowd of people demonstrating against the government has been sentenced to death after he was convicted of “war against God”.

The family of Parham Parvari, 25, said that the young man from the village of Saqqez in Tehran province had been on his way home when a crowd gathered and suddenly they were all targeted by security forces.

They said he was grabbed and arrested and taken to the Evin courthouse in Tehran where he was accused of being an “enemy of God” – and promptly sentenced to death.

The young man’s father, Mazhar Parvari, said that the arrest happened in October in the middle of widespread protests in Tehran.

He added that after his arrest, his son had been beaten and is currently incarcerated in the infamous Evin Prison’s Ward 209.

The family said that the young man had been refused access to a lawyer, and not given the chance to communicate with his family or any friends.

He had in total just one phone call where he was allowed to inform them of the moharebeh (war against God) charges against him.

It is one of the most serious offences that a person can be accused of in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the penalty is either death or other cruel punishments.

The 25-year-old has won numerous swimming titles and also works as an engineer for a company based in Tehran.

UN experts have urged Iranian authorities to stop indicting peaceful demonstrators with charges punishable by death for allegedly taking part in ongoing protests.

According to the UN Human Rights press release from 11th November, eight people were charged on 29th October by the Islamic Revolution Court, in Tehran province, with crimes carrying the death penalty, namely “waging war against God” or “moharebeh” and “corruption on earth”.

Two days later, the Tehran prosecutor announced that some 1,000 indictments had been issued in connection with recent “riots” in Tehran province alone.

Trials were scheduled in the Islamic Revolutionary Court for cases against a number of individuals. Public trials would take place “in the coming days”, the prosecutor said.

The ongoing protests have so far claimed at least 326 lives, including 43 children, and injured at least 1,160, according to independent estimates.

It is also understood that over 14,000 people have so far been arrested.