31 January 2025 :
January 30, 2025 - IRAN. IHR Calls for the Revocation of 6 Political Prisoners’ Death Penalty
Babak Alipour, Vahid Baniamerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Abolhassan Montazer, Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi, six political prisoners with previous arrests and jail terms, were sentenced to death for charges of baghy (armed rebellion) by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Relatives told IHR that they were kept in prolonged solitary confinement, subjected to torture and denied access to lawyers. Some were also repeatedly subjected to mock executions and threatened with field executions.
In recent days, IHR warned of the imminent execution of two other political prisoners, Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani.
Iran Human Rights condemns the death convictions against the six political prisoners in the strongest terms and calls on the international community, particularly countries with diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, to make all efforts for the immediate revocation of their death sentences.
IHR Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam previously said: “In recent days, officials of the Islamic Republic have linked the murders of Judges Moghisseh and Razini to MEK, paving the way for the execution of prisoners associated with the organisation. For this reason, the risk of these prisoners' execution is very serious. We call on the international community, human rights organisations, and the people of Iran to increase the political cost of these executions through their efforts."
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Babak Alipour, Vahid Baniamerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Abolhassan Montazer and Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi were sentenced to death for charges of baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK) by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Iman Afshari on 25 November 2024. They also received prison and exile terms for charges of “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security” and/or “forming an illegal group.”
The six political prisoners who all have histories of previous arrests expanding decades, were arrested between 22 December 2023-23 February 2024 and indicted on 14 May 2024. They are all currently held in Evin Prison in Tehran.
Babak Alipour is a 33-year-old law graduate who was previously arrested in November 2018 (jailed for two and a half years) and December 2021 (jailed for 15 months). He suffered from intestinal infection and prostate disease during his previous incarcerations which were left untreated for a prolonged period. He was arrested again on 27 December 2023 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison where he was under interrogation for four months. Babak was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), five years imprisonment and 20 years exile to Khash for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.”
Vahid Baniamerian, 32, has a Masters in Management and was teaching online. His father was a political prisoner in the 1980s and was previously arrested in February 2018 and 2019. In court, he told “Death Judge” Moghisseh who was complicit in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners: “We await the day when we can prosecute you and Raisi (late President and a member of the death committees), the raging river of martyrs' blood is flowing, and we will avenge the martyrs of the 1988 massacre.” He received a ten year sentence and was released in February 2022 and exiled to Hormozgan province. Vahid was rearrested on 22 December 2023 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Vahid was subjected to 48 hours of severe torture an was repeatedly threatened with a field execution. He was denied access to a lawyer throughout. He was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.”
Pouya Ghobadi is a 32-year-old electrical engineer whose five family members were jailed and executed in the 1980s. He was arrested with Vahid Baniamerian in February 2018 and 2019. In November 2019, he was transferred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary where he was attacked by violent crime prisoners. He received a ten year sentence and was released in February 2022 and exiled to Hormozgan province. He was rearrested in Chaldaron on 23 February 2024. Pouya was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.”
Abolhassan Montazer is a 65-year-old architect and father of two who was previously jailed under the reign of the Shah, four years in the 1980s. Recently, he was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to five years imprisonment. He suffers from diabetes, heart, liver and kidney diseases and psoriasis. In June 2021, he underwent open heart surgery before being transferred to Evin Prison. Abolhassan was released in March 2022 and rearrested on 22 December 2023 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison where he was held for four months before being transferred to Ward 4 of the prison. He is currently suffering from hernia in his heart surgery wound without treatment. Abolhassan was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.”
Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi is 58 and was previously jailed in the 1980s and 90s and a survivor of the 1988 massacre. He was arrested in 2020 and jailed for three years before being exiled to Kahnuj in Kerman province. He was rearrested with Pouya Ghobadi in Chaldaron on 23 February 2024. He is still held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison as he refused to attend his trial. Mohammad’s two brothers were also arrested to further pressurise him. He was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), ten years imprisonment for “forming an illegal group” and five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.” His brother Ali was sentenced to two years for membership in illegal groups and Mojtaba to three years and seven months for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security” and two years for membership in illegal groups.
Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar is a 57-year-old civil engineer and father to a 12-year-old son. He was arrested at his home in Tehran on 3 January 2024 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He was sentenced to death for baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of Mojahedin Khalgh (MEK), ten years imprisonment for “forming an illegal group” and five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security.”
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7312/
