On Monday, July 28, a new court session was held for Ali Younesi, a top student from Sharif University of Technology, as part of a renewed case against him. This session followed an initial hearing on July 20 targeting him and fellow student Amirhossein Moradi, where both were once again prosecuted on charges of “propaganda against the regime”—this time in Younesi’s absence.
Younesi was absent from the first session due to the unknown location of his detention. His absence and the complete lack of information about his condition deepened the concerns of his family and Iran’s academic community.
Over a Month of Silence After Ali Younesi’s Enforced Disappearance from Evin
Ali Younesi’s sister, Aida Younesi, wrote the following on her X (formerly Twitter) account:
“After three months of waiting and not knowing, my mother was finally able to see Ali. They brought him from Qom Prison to the Revolutionary Court. From the day Ali was abducted from Ward 4 of Evin and taken to solitary confinement, to after the bombing and his transfer to Greater Tehran Prison, and finally his exile to Qom Prison, my parents have spent every moment in anxiety and silence.”
Government abduction and torture of top students
According to received reports, about a month ago Ali Younesi was suddenly and without prior notice transferred from Greater Tehran Prison to Qom Prison. His mother, after three months without any news, was finally able to visit him—but received no reassuring answers regarding his health.
Meanwhile, Amirhossein Moradi was transferred to Greater Tehran Prison after parts of Evin Prison were damaged. In last week’s hearing, Moradi appeared in Branch 29 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mazloumi, while handcuffed and shackled.
Both students—Younesi and Moradi—were violently arrested in 2020 and subjected to months of torture and pressure in solitary confinement in Ward 209. Younesi is a computer science student and a gold medalist in the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad; Moradi is a physics Olympiad medalist.
Under similar circumstances, Saeed Masouri, another prominent political prisoner, was suddenly exiled to Zahedan Prison—an action taken in a climate of opacity that has left families in deeper confusion.
Sources report that on July 26, the special guard unit stormed the political prisoners’ ward of Ghezel Hesar Prison. Following the assault, prisoners were violently beaten, handcuffed and shackled, and transferred to solitary confinement or unknown locations. All contact with families was severed, and visitation rights were suspended.
In this context, families who went to the prison on July 28 for visitation were met with closed gates and silence from officials. No information has been provided about the prisoners’ whereabouts, physical health, or legal status.
In response to the executions at Ghezel Hesar Prison, international analysts and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations have called for the immediate halt of executions, resumption of visitation and phone contact, and an end to the current wave of repression.
They have demanded serious action against political executions, disruptions in legal proceedings, and diplomatic pressure on Iran’s regime to uphold the rights of prisoners.
