Execution of at least 30 prisoners in Bahman; Expansion of the 'Tuesdays No to Execution' campaign to 35 prisons

In continuation of protests against the implementation of death sentences, prisoners held in Gonbad Kavous prison have also joined the 'Tuesdays No to Execution' campaign. According to a recent statement from this campaign, a copy of which was obtained by VOA, on February 5, 2024, prisoners in 35 prisons across the country will go on hunger strike for the fifty-fourth consecutive week. Members of this campaign have also referred to a new wave of issuing and executing death sentences, emphasizing that 'since the beginning of Bahman, more than 30 prisoners have been executed across the country, one of whom was a female prisoner in Khorramabad prison.' Additionally, in another action, Manoochehr Fallah, a political prisoner held in Lakan prison in Rasht and a member of the Tuesdays No to Execution campaign, has been sentenced to death for 'moharebeh' (waging war against God) in an unjust, ambiguous trial without the presence of a lawyer by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht. Members of the Tuesdays No to Execution campaign have stated that the hunger strike of the prisoners in this campaign is a movement to counter organized repression, arbitrary sentences, and widespread executions aimed at instilling fear in society and preventing public protests. The statement noted that the solidarity and unity of the people in confronting inhumane death sentences in recent weeks has been exemplary, stating that 'the domestic and international campaign against the execution of political prisoners sentenced to death has gained extensive dimensions, which itself indicates a protest against a tyrannical regime that cannot survive without executions.' In another part of this statement, it is mentioned: 'The hunger strike of the Tuesdays prisoners is becoming a public movement and is expanding every week.' Members of the campaign have expressed gratitude for all 'supportive activities in social and media spaces as well as in domestic and foreign gatherings of various groups' and hope that 'these supports, which are in defense of the right to life and the foundations of human rights, will continue.' At the end, the names of the prisons participating in the hunger strike were announced as follows: Evin (women's ward, wards 4 and 8), Qezel Hesar (units 3 and 4), Central Karaj, Greater Tehran, Khourin Varamin, Arak, Khorramabad, Asadabad Isfahan, Dashtgerd Isfahan, Shiban Ahvaz, Sepidar Ahvaz, Nazem Shiraz, Adelabad Shiraz (women's and men's wards), Borazjan, Ramhormoz, Bam, Kahnouj, Tabas, Jooyan, Mashhad, Qaemshahr, Rasht (men's and women's wards), Rudsar, Haviq Talesh, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Salmas, Khoy, Naqdeh, Saqez, Baneh, Marivan, Kamyaran, and Gonbad Kavous. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam: 'Tuesdays No to Execution' is a turning point in the struggles of the Iranian people. Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb's hunger strike in protest against executions, inflation, and injustice. Reza Mohammadi: The government must be held accountable for the deaths of political prisoners. Saeed Masouri, political prisoner: The government has thrown a 'noose' around the people's necks.