40 political prisoners in Evin condemn death sentences imposed on six political detainees
Hengaw: Thursday, December 5, 2024
Forty political prisoners detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison have issued a statement condemning the recent death sentences handed down to six political detainees: Abolhassan Montazer, Pouya Gholami, Vahid Bani-Amarian, Babak Alipour, Mohammad Taghavi, and Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar.
According to a previous report by Hengaw, these six individuals were recently sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. They were convicted on charges of “rebellion” (Baghi) through membership in the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The full text of the statement, obtained by Hengaw, is as follows:
The 2022 uprising, as a pivotal moment in the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom, has shaken the foundations of the ruling state to such an extent that it sees no alternative but to intensify its repression in various forms.
The escalating trend of issuing and carrying out multiple death sentences against political prisoners over the past two years is reminiscent of the state oppression in the 1980s. This trend reveals the political elite’s fear and panic over the advancing, justice-seeking Iranian society.
The collective death sentences for six political prisoners — Abolhassan Montazer, Pouya Gholami, Vahid Bani-Amarian, Babak Alipour, Mohammad Taghavi, and Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar — follow the recent sentencing of several young individuals in the so-called Ekbatan case.
In addition to these collective death sentences, other political prisoners such as Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, Shahriar Bayat, Behrouz Ehsani, Mehdi Hasani, and Mohammad Javad Vafaee-Thani are currently on death row in Iranian prisons as of 2024.
We, the undersigned political prisoners of Evin Prison, strongly oppose the principle of capital punishment and express our full solidarity with all political and ideological prisoners facing execution.
We firmly believe that the fight for freedom requires collective solidarity in defending human rights principles, including the formation of a societal resistance against death sentences.
We call on all people of Iran, from all walks of life, to join political prisoners in opposing these inhumane and reactionary rulings by any means possible.
Now is the time to take to the streets against executions. It is time to save the lives of political prisoners. It is time to say “No to executions.”
Signatories:
Shiva Esmaeili, Reza Akbari-Monfared, Golrokh Iraee, Maryam Bano Nasiri, Yadi Bahari, Sakineh Parvaneh, Hossein Piri, Forough Taghipour, Mohammad Habibi, Mehran Raouf, Reza Rezai, Davood Rezavi, Khosro Rahnama, Khashayar Safidi, Maziar Seyed-Nejad, Hossein Shanbeh-Zadeh, Hossein Shahsavari, Zahra Safaie, Moloud Safaie, Sepehr Ziaei, Fatemeh Ziaei-Azad, Marzieh Farsi, Foad Fathi, Nasrollah Fallahi, Elaheh Fouladi, Azar Korvandi, Esmail Gerami, Narges Mohammadi, Amirhossein Moradi, Babak Moradi, Ali Moezi, Farzad Moazzami-Goudarzi, Mohammad Massoud Moeini, Javad Manbari, Mohammad Najafi, Tahereh Noori, Asadollah Hadi, Maryam Yahyavi, Ali Younesi, Mir-Yousef Younesi.
Ward 4 and Women’s Ward, Evin Prison
December 2024
