Iran | New Wave of Political Prisoner Death Sentences

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 18, 2024: At the same time as the drastic execution hike in Iran, a new wave of death sentences have been issued against at least eight protesters and political prisoners in the past week. Furthermore, the death sentences of four Baluch political prisoners have been sent for implementation.

Iran Human Rights considers the recent wave of death sentences to be a warning against hasty and imminent implementation of their executions with the aim of instilling societal fear, and calls on the people of Iran and the international community to prevent further death sentences and executions with appropriate reactions.

The organisation also warns that more executions will be carried out in the shadow of the media’s diverted attention to domestic and international crises. It is therefore crucial for the media and public to pay particularly close attention to human rights violations, particularly the death penalty.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The relatively low political cost of executing hundreds of ordinary crime prisoners in the past months has prompted the authorities to intensify the execution of protesters and political prisoners.” He added: “The Islamic Republic, which is going through the most critical period of its rule, can only survive by resorting to repression and executions. Raising the political cost through popular protests, civil society campaigns and a stronger response from the international community can stop the state's execution machine. In order to prevent large-scale executions, an appropriate reaction must be shown to each execution."

On 13 November, six “Woman, Life, Freedom” protesters were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for participation in murder by Branch 13 of the Tehran Criminal Court. In a case known as Ekbatan (neighbourhood in Tehran where it took place), Milad Armoun, Alireza Kafayi, Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal, Navid Najaran, Hossein Nemati and Alireza Barmazpournak are accused of injuring an IRGC member named Arman Aliverdi on 26 October 2022 which led to his death two days later. According to one of their lawyers, the “the head of the branch disagreed with this ruling and issued a minority vote.” Some of the defendants in the case were also indicted for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) by the Revolutionary Court.

At least four of the defendants’ torture-tainted confessions were televised prior to any legal proceedings and around a dozen defendants were forced to participate in a reconstruction of the crime scene in December 2022. They are currently held in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.

Furthermore, Kurdish political prisoner Varisheh Moradi was sentenced to death for charges of baghy (armed rebellion) by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by “death judge” Salavati on 10 November 2024. She was arrested in Sanandaj on 1 August 2023 and subsequently transferred to Evin Prison where she is still held.

Varisheh is the third female political prisoner to receive the death penalty for baghy charges in 2024. In July, Sharifeh Mohammadi was sentenced to death by Branch One of the Rasht Revolutionary Court and Pakhshan Azizi received her sentence from Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

On 17 November, state media reported that a man only named as “Mohammad Mehdi S” was sentenced to qisas for the murder of IRGC member Rasoul Doustmohammadi, 30 months imprisonment and diya (blood money) for the injury of another IRGC member and another 30 months and 74 lashes for the possession of inflammable and incendiary materials” by the Mashhad Criminal Court. The alleged offences took place in Mashhad in the early days of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests. The unidentified protester was arrested on 23 September 2022 and alleged to have “confessed” to the charges and is held in Mashhad Central (Vakil Abad) Prison.

Four Baluch political prisoners named Eido Shehbakhsh, Abdolghani Shehbakhsh, Abdolrahim Ghanbarzehi and Soleiman Shehbakhsh were sentenced to death for charges of baghy for “forming and membership in anti-revolution terrorist groups” by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 4 February 2023. Their sentences were subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court and sent for implementation in late October.

Eido and Abdolghani who are the first defendants in the case, were previously cleared of the charges and released but later rearrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organisation. Soleiman Shehbakhsh, the fourth defendant in the case, is reported to have been 12 years old at the time of arrest. All four men are reported to have been severely tortured to extract false self-incriminating confessions. They are currently held in Ghezel Hesar Prison.

The four Baluch men and Varshieh Moradi are members of the “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” abolitionist movement which began in response to the weekly group executions in Iranian prisons and now takes place in 25 prisons across the country.

It is important to note that death penalty cases against political prisoners are processed without due process and fair trial rights in courts that are under the influence of security institutions, and torture-tainted forced confessions are used as the primary method of proving the defendants’ guilt.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, November 18, 2024

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