Human rights sources in Iran reported on Tuesday, April 8, that five political-religious prisoners were executed at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.
The names of the executed prisoners were announced as: Farhad Shakeri, Abdulrahman Gorgij, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Malek Fadaei-Nasab, and Taj Mohammad Khormali.
According to reports from human rights activists, the executions were carried out abruptly and without prior notice.
These five political-religious prisoners, along with another inmate named Issa Eid Mohammadi, had been sentenced to death in 2019 on charges of “armed rebellion” (Baghi or revolt) through membership in opposition groups.
Subsequently, the death sentences for all six prisoners were overturned by Branch 41 of the Iranian regime’s Supreme Court, headed by Judge Ali Razini, and the cases were referred to an equivalent branch for retrial.
In early August 2023, following a retrial, Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad once again sentenced each of the prisoners to death.
In January 2025, these prisoners had published a letter exposing the violence and beatings inflicted by prison guards and called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to hold the Iranian regime accountable for these inhumane acts.
Referring to the “violence, inhumane behavior by prison officials, and harsh conditions faced by inmates,” they wrote: “The guards delete footage from surveillance cameras to hide evidence of these actions.”
