In a joint statement, participating prisoners condemned the escalation of executions, including the recent death sentence given to Varisheh Moradi, a female political prisoner in Evin Prison, on charges of “rebellion” and “membership in an opposition group.” They also denounced the death sentence for Naser Bekrzadeh, accused of espionage, and other recent sentences in Urmia Prison by the Revolutionary Court, where prisoners Edris Ali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasul Ahmad Mohammad also await execution.
Reflecting on Iran’s recent history of unrest, the statement commemorates the fifth anniversary of the 2019 protests, also known as “Bloody November.” “We honor the memory of more than 1,500 women, men, youth, and children who died during those protests,” they wrote, praising the resilience of grieving families who, despite government repression, persist in seeking justice.
The prisoners described the heavy burden of looming executions in Iran’s prisons, referring to the wave of killings by the “fascist government of Velayat-e Faqih.” In November alone, they reported that more than 103 people, including two women, were executed. This brings the total to over 450 executions since the beginning of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s term, marking what the prisoners called a “grim achievement” of the current government.
Iran’s judiciary, they asserted, has reached new levels of repression through the issuance and execution of death sentences, particularly targeting political prisoners. Just days ago, two more prisoners in Evin and Urmia were sentenced to death on political and espionage charges.
The statement highlighted the plight of four Arab prisoners—Ali Majdam, Moeen Khanfari, Mohammad Reza Moghadam, and Adnan Ghobishawi—who face imminent execution in Shiban Ahvaz Prison. Three of them are on a hunger strike, protesting their inhumane conditions and placing their lives in grave danger.
Despite government crackdowns, prisoners continue to resist through solidarity campaigns. Recently, in support of “No Execution Tuesdays,” prisoners in Dastgerd Prison declared a hunger strike and returned their prison meals, standing against the brutal policies of the regime. The campaign contends that death sentences for women, in particular, serve as a form of “hostage-taking” to suppress growing public dissent. They denounced these sentences as tools of intimidation and called for collective action to end the use of executions as state repression.
For the first time, the “No Execution Tuesdays” campaign revealed that the government had initially misled four Baloch prisoners—Eido Shahbakhsh, Abdol Ghani Shahbakhsh, Abdol Rahim Qanbarzehi, and Soleiman Shahbakhsh—about their legal status. The prisoners were assured that their cases lacked evidence and that their release was imminent, with one of them, Eido Shahbakhsh, even briefly freed. However, he was later re-arrested and, along with the others, sentenced to death. The campaign highlighted how this pattern reflects a deliberate strategy of “hostage-taking” to foster fear among the public.
This campaign, which has consistently warned against the unjust execution of prisoners, once again appeals to human rights advocates, political organizations, civil society groups, and all conscientious individuals to stand in solidarity against the regime’s death sentences. “Ending this regime’s killing machine is only possible through unified, active resistance and collective action,” their statement concludes.
Source » irannewsupdate