A group of families of political prisoners sentenced to death held a protest in front of Evin Prison during the sixty-fifth week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign. They protested the cutoff of phone calls and the increased pressure on five death-row political prisoners who are being coerced into transferring to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran.
Videos posted on social media show a group of family members of political prisoners sentenced to death gathering outside Evin Prison in Tehran on Tuesday, April 22.
Those present at the protest held up pictures of political prisoners sentenced to death and placards with slogans such as “No to execution,” “Abolish the death penalty,” and “No to unjust execution sentences.”
“No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign Marks 65th Week Amid Escalating State Violence
The families of some of these political prisoners sentenced to death warned that the inmates are being subjected to various forms of pressure to force their transfer to Ghezel Hesar Prison. They cited the cutoff of phone access and the blocking of their prison bank account cards as examples.
Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj is one of the most notorious prisons in Iran, where many execution sentences for prisoners with various charges are carried out.
Denial of phone call rights for five political prisoners sentenced to death
On April 21, human rights media reported that Akbar Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, and Vahid Bani-Amerian, five political prisoners sentenced to death, have been denied phone call privileges with their families by prison authorities.
Earlier, on April 16, Evin Prison officials attempted to transfer these prisoners to Ghezel Hesar, but the prisoners resisted and refused the move.
Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, expressed deep concern on April 17 over reports of attempts to forcibly transfer these five political prisoners from Ward 4 of Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar.
The accused have been imprisoned since the fall and winter of 2023, and in addition to the death penalty, have been sentenced to imprisonment and exile on charges such as “gathering and colluding to disrupt national security, property destruction, forming unlawful groups, and illegal border crossing.” These prisoners are accused of membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main opposition to the Iranian regime.
In recent months, numerous reports have emerged about both male and female political prisoners in Iran being deprived of the right to phone calls and visits with their families and lawyers.
In recent months, the rising number of executions and the issuance and confirmation of death sentences for political prisoners in Iran have triggered a wave of protests both inside and outside the country.
According to human rights sources, around sixty individuals across Iran’s prisons are currently under death sentences for political or national security-related charges.
