Iran | Political Prisoner at Imminent Risk of Execution After Iranian Regime’s Court Rejects Retrial

The Iranian regime’s judiciary has rejected a final appeal from Behrouz Ehsani Eslamloo, a 70-year-old political prisoner sentenced to death, bringing him perilously close to execution. The decision, confirmed this week, comes amid international outcry and growing evidence of severe due process violations in Iran’s revolutionary courts.

Ehsani was arrested in November 2022 at the height of the nationwide uprising and held in Tehran’s Evin Prison under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. After enduring three and a half months of torture, extended solitary confinement, and coerced interrogations, he was transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison in January 2025, where he remains under constant threat of execution.

On April 21, attorney Adel Ahmadian announced via X (formerly Twitter) that the judiciary had rejected Ehsani’s request for a retrial without even reviewing the original case file from Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by the notorious judge Iman Afshari. The same court had sentenced Ehsani to death in September 2024 on charges of “baghi” (armed rebellion), “moharebeh” (waging war against God), “efsad fil-arz” (corruption on earth), and membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Behrouz Ehsani’s case is not just a legal outrage—it is a test of the international community’s resolve to defend the most basic human rights.

Ehsani, a father of two and caretaker for his elderly mother, had no access to a fair trial. According to human rights groups, he was denied meaningful legal representation and forced to confess under duress. He now joins the growing list of older political prisoners—some in their 60s and 70s—being targeted in the Iranian regime’s ruthless campaign to crush dissent.

In January 2025, Amnesty International called for an immediate halt to the execution of Behrouz Ehsani and his co-defendant Mehdi Hassani, stating both men had been subjected to torture and denied basic fair trial standards. Amnesty warned that proceeding with their executions would amount to an “irreversible miscarriage of justice.”

Despite international pressure, Iranian authorities have refused to reverse course. With the rejection of the retrial, Ehsani’s case has now been sent to the implementation unit, putting him at immediate risk of execution without further legal recourse.

Behrouz Ehsani’s case is not just a legal outrage—it is a test of the international community’s resolve to defend the most basic human rights. At 70 years old, he is a symbol of resistance, and his execution would serve only as a chilling message to others demanding freedom and accountability.

Global human rights organizations, UN mechanisms, and Western governments must act now—publicly and decisively—to halt Ehsani’s execution and pressure Tehran to end its weaponization of the death penalty against political prisoners.

Time is running out. The world must not stay silent.

Source: NCRI, Staff, April 23, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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