10 Political Prisoners Protest the Death Sentence of Tomaj Salehi; Warning About the Possible 'Government Killings' of Seven Other Prisoners

Ten political prisoners in Qazalhessar described the death sentence for Tomaj Salehi as the 'tip of the iceberg of gross human rights violations' and two of them, in an audio file received by VOA, warned about the execution danger facing 'Reza Rasayi, Adel Khoshkar, Habib Daris, Mojahid Korkor, Mansour Dahmarde, Abbas Daris, and Milad Azmoon.' In a letter from these ten political prisoners, published by HRANA, the media organ of human rights activists in Iran on Sunday, April 9, Tomaj Salehi is introduced as 'the pseudonym and revealer of all the nameless and faceless individuals' who have been executed in anonymity and innocence in recent days, weeks, and months. According to these political prisoners, the issuance of the death sentence for Tomaj Salehi is 'the tip of the iceberg of gross human rights violations in Iran' and 'Tomaj's name, his popularity, and dragging him to the gallows resonate as the loud cry of the demand for justice from all the people of Iran and their unjustly executed youth.' The letter, signed by Reza Mohammadi, Sepehr Imam-Jom'e, Loqman Aminpour, Saeed Masouri, Saman Yasin, Zartosht Ahmadinejad, Reza Salmanzadeh, Hamzeh Savari, Meysam Dehbanzadeh, and Ahmad Reza Haeri, emphasizes that this time the voice of this demand for justice 'has reached the ears of the world with the name of the rights-seeking artist and activist, showing how a sample represents the whole and under what false pretenses and in what kind of kangaroo courts the youth and people of Iran are subjected to gross human rights violations.' On the other hand, in an audio file received by VOA from Reza Salmanzadeh and Zartosht Ahmadinejad, these two political prisoners stated that 'freedom seekers' including 'Reza Rasayi, Adel Khoshkar, Habib Daris, Mojahid Korkor, Mansour Dahmarde, Abbas Daris, and Milad Azmoon' are in the 'line of government killings' and face the danger of execution, emphasizing: 'What harms the victim more than anything is the silence of the bystander.' According to these two political prisoners, the Islamic Republic 'takes a hard revenge on the youth of Iran whenever it faces failure in its foreign and domestic policies. One day it sends its mercenaries into the streets as moral patrols to harass girls and women, and another day it issues unjust and fabricated death sentences for political prisoners and freedom seekers, while on another day it creates propaganda and media maneuvers to distract the nation, executing our innocent children in secrecy.' Reza Salmanzadeh and Zartosht Ahmadinejad, in this message, recalling the executions of Majid Reza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari 'in ignorance,' said: 'We will not remain silent in the face of this lawlessness of the regime.' They recalled the hunger strike of several political prisoners on Tuesdays, adding: 'For 14 consecutive weeks, every Tuesday, we have been on a collective hunger strike in Qazalhessar prison due to the execution of freedom seekers, and if any of our freedom-seeking loved ones are executed, we will not only remain silent but will also use more options to prevent the regime's crimes.' These two political prisoners called on the people of Iran, political and civil activists, and international human rights organizations to 'not remain silent in the face of the oppression of the oppressors' and added: 'Before a noose is woven for the necks of Iran's freedom seekers, be their voice so that another regret is not placed in our hearts by the regime of murder and madness.' Simultaneously with the warnings from these prisoners about the danger of executing freedom-seeking protesters, a source close to Reza Rasayi, a political prisoner sentenced to death in Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah, told VOA that 'the administrative tasks for the execution have been completed' and 'there is no obstacle to execution, except for the consent of the victim's family.' In previous days, relatives of Reza Rasayi warned about the execution of this political prisoner, stating that his life is currently more at risk than ever.