Iran “murders” political prisoner – exiles

Iran Focus: London, Sep. 07 – Iranian authorities have “murdered” a long-time political prisoner, the main Iranian opposition coalition announced on Wednesday. Iran Focus

London, Sep. 07 – Iranian authorities have “murdered” a long-time political prisoner, the main Iranian opposition coalition announced on Wednesday.

The regime’s “henchmen” murdered 28-year-old Valliollah Feyz-Mahdavi, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement.

Feyz-Mahdavi was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to execution for membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MeK), Iran’s main opposition group.

“Due to international pressure and a widespread campaign by the Iranian Resistance his sentence was recently put on hold”, the NCRI statement said.

Feyz-Mahdavi, who was serving time in Gohar-Dasht Prison in the city of Karaj, had been on hunger strike since August 23. On September 2, he was transferred from Ward 2a of the prison and was threatened with death by prison officials, it said.

His lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, told the state-run news agency ILNA, “On Sunday, upon visiting the Sixth District of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, I was told that my client’s execution sentence had not been commuted to imprisonment”.

The NCRI said Sharif’s remarks “clearly reveal” the regime’s “decision” to murder Feyz-Mahdavi.

“To cover up this horrendous crime, the regime falsely announced on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday that Mr. Feiz-Mahdavi had attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself in the prison block’s shower on Sunday”, it said.

It added that following Feyz-Mahdavi’s murder, security forces conducted a raid on the prison ward, attacking political prisoners and demanding that they take part in televised appearances and announce that their prison-mate had committed suicide.

On Thursday, the state-run news agency ISNA quoted prison officials as acknowledging his death.

A separate report from Tehran said that Feyz-Mahdavi had been murdered by prison guards on Sunday.

In February, authorities executed another PMOI member, Hojjat Zamani, in Gohar-Dasht Prison and in July student activist Akbar Mohammadi mysteriously died while on hunger strike in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.