Accusation of 'Baghi' Against Five Political Prisoners and Their Transfer to Quarantine in Evin Prison

A human rights source reported the accusation of 'Baghi' against five political prisoners, stating that four of them were informed of their charges in the fifth branch of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office and have recently been transferred from Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is the detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence, to the quarantine section of Evin Prison. According to a report by Hrana, the media organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, published on Tuesday, May 22, these prisoners, named 'Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Abolhasan Montazeri, and Mohammad Taghavi,' along with another prisoner named 'Vahid Bani-Amiri,' who has also been charged with 'Baghi,' have been taken to the quarantine section of Evin Prison. Under Islamic Penal Code, the charge of 'Baghi' in the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran can lead to punishments including 'execution, amputation of the right hand and left foot, and exile.' According to the report, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Abolhasan Montazeri, and Mohammad Taghavi were charged on Tuesday, May 14, in the fifth branch of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office, presided over by Judge Alizadeh, on suspicion of membership and collaboration with one of the opposition groups against the Islamic Republic, accused of 'Baghi' and 'conspiracy against national security.' A source close to the family of one of these political defendants told Hrana that the cases of these prisoners are likely interconnected. According to the report, Abolhasan Montazeri and Babak Alipour were arrested separately by intelligence agencies in Tehran on the first day of Dey last year, and Pouya Ghobadi was arrested on March 4, 2023, in 'Chaldoran County' and transferred to Makou Prison. Mohammad Taghavi was also arrested on March 11 of the same year. Abolhasan Montazeri is reported to be 65 years old and a political prisoner from the 1980s, who had previously been arrested in 2018 and sentenced to five years in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was transferred to prison in 2020 to serve his sentence and was released in April 2023 under 'pardon.' On January 1 of last year, they were arrested separately by security forces in Tehran. On March 4, 2023, Pouya Ghobadi was arrested by security forces in Chaldoran County and transferred to Makou Prison. He was then transferred to Evin Prison on March 11 of the same year. Seyed Mohammad Taghavi was also arrested by security forces late last year. The report also states that Mohammad Taghavi is 57 years old and a political prisoner from the 1980s, and Babak Alipour was arrested along with his brother Roozbeh on November 4, 2018, in Rasht and was sentenced to 'seven years of imprisonment' by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of Gilan Province for 'membership in opposition groups and insulting the leadership.' He was transferred to Lakan Prison in July 2019 and later moved to Ward 4 of Evin Prison and was released in the spring of last year. According to this report, Pouya Ghobadi was also arrested in May 2018 in Tehran and sentenced to 18 years in prison and exile to Nikshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province by the Revolutionary Court and was released in the spring of 2022 under 'pardon.' Tomaj Salehi, a protest singer, is another political prisoner who has been accused of 'aiding in Baghi' by the Revolutionary Court, and his death sentence was communicated to his lawyers on May 25. The issuance of a death sentence for Tomaj Salehi has led to a wave of domestic and international protests. Additionally, see: Amnesty International: Cancel the death sentence for Tomaj Salehi and release him 'unconditionally.'