Two political prisoners, Behruz Ehsani Eslamloo and Mehdi Hassani, transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison for execution
Hengaw: Sunday, January 26, 2025
Behruz Ehsani Eslamloo, 69-year-old, arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, and Mehdi Hassani, a 52-year-old political prisoner, have been transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran to solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison in preparation for the execution of their death sentences. Both individuals had been sentenced to death by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the verdicts recently upheld by the Supreme Court.
According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the transfer of Eslamloo and Hassani on Sunday, January 26, 2025, signals the imminent implementation of their sentences, placing their lives in grave danger.
Hengaw unequivocally condemns these rulings, which are rooted in judicial processes that fail to meet international fair trial standards. Hengaw calls on the United Nations, the European Union, human rights organizations, and all nations committed to human rights principles to take immediate action to halt these executions. The use of the death penalty against political prisoners, especially under such flawed legal circumstances, constitutes a clear violation of human rights and amounts to extrajudicial punishment. Silence from the international community emboldens the Islamic Republic of Iran’s systematic use of executions as a tool of oppression.
Hengaw has learned that, simultaneously with the transfer of these two political prisoners, several political detainees in Evin Prison staged a protest rally.
In September 2024, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced both prisoners to death. The charges included membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization, moharebeh (waging war against God), rebellion, ifsad fi al-ard (corruption on earth), collecting classified information, and collusion against national security. The Supreme Court upheld these rulings in January 2025.
Mehdi Hassani, a resident of Shahr-e Rey, was arrested on Friday, September 9, 2022, in Zanjan while attempting to leave the country. He was subsequently transferred to Evin Prison, where he has been held since.
Behruz Ehsani Eslamloo, a resident of Tehran, was arrested at his home on Monday, November 28, 2022, during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Eslamloo had previously been detained in the fall of 2019 for attending the funeral of Pouya Bakhtiari, a victim of the November 2019 protests. At that time, he was sentenced to 80 lashes for his participation, though he did not present himself to serve the sentence. This prior record was reportedly used against him in the death penalty case.
