A Human Rights Organization: The Islamic Republic Uses False Accusations to Suppress Opponents and Religious Forces

On Thursday, June 7, the Human Rights Campaign in Iran criticized the confirmation of the death sentence for Mohammad Khodrnejad, a 45-year-old Sunni cleric and one of the detainees from the 2021 uprising in Boukan, by the Supreme Court. This human rights organization wrote on the social media platform 'X' that the record of political and ideological repression by the Islamic Republic shows that the government has repeatedly used baseless legal accusations, such as 'corruption on earth' or 'rebellion', to suppress opponents and religious forces in minority regions. Previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia had sentenced Mohammad Khodrnejad to death and 16 years in prison on charges of 'corruption on earth', 'propaganda against the regime', and 'harming the integrity or independence of the country' after 14 months of detention and interrogation. This sentence was confirmed in Branch 41 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Ali Razini. The Human Rights Campaign in Iran noted that 'the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has officially executed at least 9 protesters, including Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohsen Shakari, Mohammad Qobadlu, Mohammad Hosseini, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi, Saleh Mirhashimi, and Milad Zahrawand in connection with the nationwide uprising of 2021 and the protests of the Women, Life, Freedom movement.' Meanwhile, human rights organizations and activists have previously warned about the risk of execution for several political prisoners and detainees from past nationwide protests, including Reza Rasayi, Mojahid Korkor, Habib Daris, and Abbas Daris. The implementation of death sentences in Iran by the Islamic Republic has drawn significant criticism. In Iran, a joint action by several political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar, Evin, Khorramabad, Shiraz, and Saqqez for a hunger strike on Tuesdays in protest against the issuance and execution of death sentences by the Islamic Republic has entered its nineteenth week, with the participation of 8 political prisoners at risk of execution in the 'No to Execution' campaign on June 5. According to information received by Voice of America, these eight Sunni political prisoners at risk of execution are being held in Unit 3 of Ghezel Hesar prison 'under inhumane conditions in a hall known as the suite or solitary confinement for prisoners under death sentence.' The prisoners at risk of execution in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj include four Sunni Baloch prisoners named Ghani Shahbakhsh, Soleiman Shahbakhsh, Abdul Rahim Qanbarzahi (Mir Baloch Zahi), and Aido Shahbakhsh, as well as four others named Fereydoun Zakerinasab, Salah al-Din Ziyaei, Saleh Ziadollah, Abdullah Varia, and Abdul Karim Qanbarzahi. Graffiti welded in support of the imprisoned rapper reads, 'Tomaaj Salehi must be freed, not executed.' Iranian gatherings outside of Iran in several cities around the world protested against the executions and suppression of women by the Islamic Republic. Raha Bahraini stated that the deprived people of Iran are the main victims of the Islamic Republic's executions; execution is never a deterrent. Some members of the U.S. Congress have called for sanctions against the judges in Tomaaj Salehi's case. A monthly report from the human rights organization on the violation of women's rights in Iran includes execution, femicide, detention, and imprisonment. Kamran Sheikhe's sudden transfer from Ghezel Hesar to Mahabad prison; he is sentenced to death. Hengaw reported that 67 prisoners were executed in one month.