Campaign Defending Four Kurdish Political Prisoners Warns of Imminent Execution Threat

The campaign defending four Kurdish political prisoners issued a statement on Saturday, February 26, warning of the "serious" threat of imminent execution for Pejman Fatehi, Mohammad Farahmarzi, Vafa Azarbar, and Mohsen Mazloom, and called for "immediate and effective" action from human rights organizations and international bodies. According to the statement, the enforcement branch and security agencies contacted the families of these four political prisoners on Saturday evening, informing them to visit Evin Prison in Tehran on Sunday morning, February 27. The Supreme Court had rejected the request for retrial for Pejman Fatehi, Mohammad Farahmarzi, Vafa Azarbar, and Mohsen Mazloom the previous week. Meanwhile, Joanna Timsi, the wife of Mohsen Mazloom, posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) stating: "Over the past 19 months, I have pursued all human rights avenues, the global community, and ultimately went on a hunger strike, but received no response." Ms. Timsi called on "the people of Tehran, the mothers of the bereaved, the mothers of Khavaran, the victims of the Ukrainian flight, and the families of the victims of the Jina Revolution" to help prevent the execution of these four political prisoners. According to her, these four Kurdish citizens were arrested after traveling to Urmia for "political activity," and the Islamic Republic accused them of "espionage for Israel" and "planning to explode a center" through "scenario fabrication." Previously, the wife of Mohsen Mazloom had rejected the security accusations against these four Kurdish prisoners at risk of execution, stating to Voice of America that the families of political prisoners should inform Nada Al-Nashif, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, about human rights violations in Iran. Amnesty International and eighteen human rights organizations have also warned in recent weeks about the imminent execution threat to these four Kurdish political prisoners, urging the global community to take immediate action to prevent these executions. Executions in Iran have intensified following widespread protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, and international human rights organizations have repeatedly warned about the continuation of this trend.