Human Rights Sources Warn of Possible Execution of Two Political Prisoners

Human rights sources have expressed concern over the imminent execution of Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh and Saman Mohammadi, reporting that these two political prisoners are at risk of "imminent execution" after being transferred to solitary confinement in Ghezelsar Prison in Alborz Province. According to the media organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran on Sunday, December 16, Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh was transferred from Evin Prison to solitary confinement in Ghezelsar Prison, and Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh was also moved from the general ward of Ghezelsar Prison to solitary confinement. Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, a 26-year-old political prisoner, was arrested in Fall 2023 and sentenced to death by Abolqasem Salavati, the head of Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, on charges including "collaboration with Israel." According to a source close to Mahdavi Shayesteh's family, "the charges against Mohammad Amin were made without sufficient evidence" and he was "forced under severe pressure to accept confessions whose validity is questionable." The report also emphasized that the "arrest and trial process" of Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh was "accompanied by clear injustices and he was deprived of access to a chosen lawyer." Additionally, Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh, a 34-year-old from Sanandaj, was arrested in February 2010 and months later sentenced to death by the same court on charges of "moharebeh" (waging war against God); however, this death sentence was overturned by Branch 41 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic. Although upon re-examination of the case in a parallel branch, Mr. Mohammadi was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment on charges of "membership in opposition groups" against the Islamic Republic, the 15-year sentence was again overturned in an ambiguous process under pressure from security agencies that were the plaintiffs in the case, and Saman Mohammadi was once again sentenced to death on the same charges. According to reports, Saman Mohammadi's family confirmed this news, stating that he has been under "physical and psychological pressure during detention and forced to accept charges" but has "denied all charges during all stages of interrogation and trial." Reports indicate that Saman Mohammadi's family went to Ghezelsar Prison on Saturday, December 23, "for a final visit" and prison officials took him to solitary confinement. Soran Mansournia, the brother of the bereaved Borhan Mansournia, who was killed during nationwide protests in Iran, wrote on social media that "today Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh informed his relatives that his interrogators announced he is to be executed on Wednesday morning, December 20." The threat of execution by the Islamic Republic in Iran also endangers other political prisoners, including six defendants in the well-known case of the "Ekbatani Children." Previously, the co-chairs of the "Iran Human Rights and Democracy Working Group" in the U.S. Congress condemned the issuance of death sentences for six political prisoners in Iran by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic. Members of the weekly hunger strike campaign for political prisoners titled "Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty" have previously described the issuance of "bulk death sentences" as a strategy of the Islamic Republic "to create fear and terror."