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Iran | 3 Political Prisoners Receive 6 Death Sentences in Ahvaz

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 16, 2025: Massoud Jamei, Alireza Mardasi and Farshad Etemadifar, three political prisoners in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison, have each received two death sentences for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and membership of opposition groups. Massoud Jamei is being “denied treatment for colon cancer outside the prison.”

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Branch 1 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Adibimehr, has sentenced three political prisoners held in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison to death.

Massoud Jamei (Bavi), Alireza Mardasi (Hamidavi), two Arab minorities, and Farshad Etemadifar each received two death sentences and a year in prison on charges of “efsad-fil-arz, membership of opposition groups and propaganda against the system.” Two other defendants in the case named Saman Hormatnejad and Davoud Hormatnejad were sentenced to 12 and 15 years imprisonment respectively.

Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) alleged they were “connected” to the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and had intended to “carry out disruptive operations in Khuzestan, Fars and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces.”

Human rights activist, Yasin Ahvazi told IHRNGO: “Masoud Jamei has been diagnosed with colon cancer and is denied access to medical treatment outside the prison. He is also suffering from neck problems due to the torture he endured during his detention, which has made prison conditions extremely difficult for him. Before his arrest, he was an employee of the oil company and an active workers’ rights advocate.”

“The three political prisoners were held incommunicado, subjected to severe torture during their detention in order to extract forced confessions and the right to choose their own lawyer. Even at trial, they were deprived of the right to a lawyer.”

Farshad Etemadifar was arrested with Saman Hormatnejad and Davoud Hormatnejad in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province on 16 June 2023. Massoud Jamei and Alireza Mardasi were arrested in Khuzestan province on 1 August 2023. They are currently held in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, July 16, 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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