Civil Activists Gather Again to Demand Abolition of Death Sentences Outside Evin Prison

A number of civil and human rights activists in Iran gathered for the second time outside Evin Prison to protest against the issuance of death sentences in the country. Narges Mohammadi's Instagram page, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, reported that this gathering took place on Monday night, February 30. Prominent civil activists such as Sedigheh Vosoughi, Narges Mohammadi, Aliyeh Matlabi Zadeh, Elham Salehi, Kambez Nourouz Zadeh, and Majid Mosafar were present at this gathering. The activists burned a noose, calling for public support for the political prisoners' hunger strike campaign known as "Tuesdays Against Execution." Hundreds of prisoners in Qazalhasar, Evin, and over 30 other prisons across Iran have been on a hunger strike since February 2024, protesting the continuation of executions in the country. The protesting civil activists chanted slogans such as "We stand until the abolition of the death penalty" while holding placards with titles like "No to Execution." Last week, civil activists, including Narges Mohammadi, also gathered in front of Evin Prison against the death sentences. Ms. Mohammadi, who has spent many years in prison, has recently been granted leave from Evin for medical treatment. In this context, over 200 Iranian lawyers published an open letter on February 29 addressed to the head of the judiciary, demanding an immediate halt to the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, and Sharifeh Mohammadi, describing the handling of their cases as ambiguous and incomplete. The 229 lawyers stated in their letter: "Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, and Sharifeh Mohammadi stand on the brink of death, which is not a judgment of justice but a hasty decision derived from a process full of ambiguity." According to human rights organizations, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed over a thousand prisoners in 2024, at least 33 of whom were women. In this context, several civil activists and former political prisoners released videos on social media protesting the death sentence of Manoochehr Fallah, one of the detainees from the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests. Houman Taheri, Younes Azadbar, Mahmoud Sediqipour, Anoush Adeli, Abbas Haqgoo, Eisa Choulandi, Peyman Sokouti, and Jamshid Azizi, some of whom were fellow inmates of this political prisoner, called the death sentence unjust and demanded an end to the issuance of death sentences for all prisoners. Radio Farda reported on February 3 that the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht sentenced Manoochehr Fallah, a political prisoner held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, to death.