Iran’s Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of two prisoners of conscience charged for “blasphemy” and “insulting the Prophet”.
According to the Defenders of Human Rights Center website, the two men were identified as Yousef Mehrdad and Saad-o-llah Fazeli.
Yousef was previously in a critical condition in the hospital. Security and judiciary agents threatened him that “we will execute you”, putting Yousef under psychological pressure.
The Judiciary also ordered a ban on phone calls with their family and anyone outside the prison.
The initial death sentence was issued in April by the Branch 1 Criminal Court of Markazi province southwest of Tehran. The two men were also sentenced to eight years of prison. Another prisoner identified as Farhad Chehrehsa Kumeleh has a similar case and sentence, but it is not confirmed yet.
According to Amnesty International, Iran uses the death penalty increasingly as a weapon of political repression against protesters, dissidents, and members of minority groups. Executions are carried out after unfair trials based on forced confessions under torture.
In 2020, a Human Rights organization said there were at least 255 executions in Iran. The Iranian regime continues to hold one of the world’s top records that applies the death penalty.
Source » irannewswire