Following orders to transfer five political prisoners sentenced to death from Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar Prison, tension and unrest broke out in Ward 4 of Evin. According to informed sources, prison guards entered the ward and cracked down on the protests by using force against the inmates.
The names of these political prisoners are Mohammad Taghavi, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amrian, Ali Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, and Babak Alipour. These individuals were previously sentenced to death by Judge Iman Afshari on charges of affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Iranian Regime’s Contradictory Justifications for Executing Political Opponents
According to witnesses, prison guards, under the orders of Heydatollah Farzadi, the warden of Evin Prison, locked the ward doors and created a security-heavy environment to prevent other inmates from protesting. Human rights sources have reported that the transfer was carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Intelligence.
This move comes as the European Union, on April 14, placed Heydatollah Farzadi on its sanctions list for his role in the systematic repression of prisoners.
Previously, in February 2025, two other political prisoners, Mehdi Hasani and Behrouz Ehsani, were also transferred to Ghezel Hesar without prior notice. In recent months, political prisoners Ali Moezzi, Khosro Rahnama, Asadollah Hadi, and Abolhassan Montazer have also been similarly moved to Ghezel Hesar.
The six political prisoners sentenced to death who have recently been transferred to Ghezel Hesar or are awaiting execution have extensive records of political arrests and convictions.
In response to these developments, families of several political prisoners sentenced to death gathered outside Evin Prison, demanding a halt to the executions and sudden transfers.
Names and Status of the Six Political Prisoners Sentenced to Death
Seyed Mohammad Taghavi
Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, 57, is a political prisoner from the 2000s. He graduated in graphic design from the University of Tehran and had previously been imprisoned due to his political activities. In March 2024, he was rearrested and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He had also been imprisoned in 2020 for approximately three years in Evin, charged with affiliation to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Pouya Ghobadi
Pouya Ghobadi, born in 1992 in Sonqor, is an electrical engineering graduate from Sanandaj University. He was arrested on February 23, 2024, while attempting to cross the border in Chaldoran and transferred to Maku Prison. On March 1, 2024, he was moved to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where he remained for several months. Ghobadi had previously been arrested in 2018 on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the Supreme Leader,” and was sentenced to 18 years in prison and exile to Nikshahr.
Babak Alipour
Babak Alipour, born in 1991 in Amol and a law graduate, was arrested in January 2024 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He had previously been arrested on November 4, 2018, along with his brother, Roozbeh Alipour, at the produce market in Rasht. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of “membership in the PMOI” and “insulting the Supreme Leader,” and was released in 2023 after serving two years of his sentence.
Shahrokh Daneshvarkar
Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, born in September 1966, is a dismissed civil engineer. He was arrested at his home on January 3, 2024. Daneshvarkar, who resides in Tehran, is married and has a 12-year-old son. Following his arrest, he was transferred to Evin Prison.
Seyed Abolhassan Montazer
Seyed Abolhassan Montazer, born in 1959 and an architecture graduate, was arrested by security forces in Tehran on December 22, 2023, and later transferred to Ward 4 of Evin Prison. He is a political prisoner from the 2000s and had also been arrested in 2018. Montazer has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Vahid Bani-Amrian
Vahid Bani-Amrian, born in 1992 and a native of Sonqor, holds a master’s degree in management from K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Tehran. He had previously been arrested in 2017 and 2018. In January 2019, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
These prisoners have been sentenced to death due to political charges and alleged affiliation with the PMOI, and their situation has attracted significant international attention.
Human rights activists, warning of the imminent possibility of executions, have called for immediate intervention by international bodies to prevent widespread human rights violations in Iran’s prisons.
