29 January 2024 :
January 15, 2024 - Death sentences of ten political prisoners upheld
Mojahed Kourkouri, Reza Rasaei, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad Faramarzi, Vafa Azarbar, and Pejman Fatehi
Iran judiciary has upheld the death sentences of ten political prisoners. The ten prisoners are awaiting the implementation of their sentences. The families of some of these prisoners held a sit-in outside the Evin Prison and demanded a halt to the execution of their loved ones.
The names of these ten political prisoners are as follows.
Mojahed Kourkouri, one of the detainees of the nationwide protests in 2022 in Izeh, is currently imprisoned in Shaiban Prison in Ahvaz. His death sentence was upheld by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court on December 23, 2023.
Reza Rasaei, another detainee of the nationwide protests in 2022 in Ardabil, is currently imprisoned in Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. His death sentence has also been upheld by Branch 17 of the Supreme Court on December 24, 2023.
Also, four Sunni prisoners named Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat, and Kamran Sheikheh, who are currently detained in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, have been incarcerated for over 14 years. Their death sentences have been upheld, and the Iranian judiciary has condemned all seven of them to death in a joint case.
Four other prisoners who are awaiting execution are Kurdish individuals named Mohsen Mazloum, 27 years old from Mahabad, Mohammad Faramarzi, 28 years old from Dehgolan, Vafa Azarbar, 26 years old from Urmia, and Pejman Fatehi, 28 years old from Kamyaran. They have been sentenced to death by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Iman Afshari. Their death sentences were upheld by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court on January 6, 2024. The four prisoners have been condemned to execution on false charges of having ties to Israel.
The Iranian judiciary has upheld the death sentences of ten political prisoners, bringing them closer to the gallows with each passing moment. The Iranian regime has already executed twenty political prisoners in 2023. The confirmation of the death sentences for the ten political prisoners in the first month of 2024 indicates an alarming trend of accelerated executions of political prisoners, which is deeply concerning. Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) calls for immediate intervention by the United Nations and human rights organizations to halt the execution orders.
