Political Prisoners in Tabriz Prison Join the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' Campaign

On the 23rd week of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign, several political prisoners in Tabriz Prison, including Armita Paveer and Maryam Bayramian, announced their participation in the campaign on Tuesday, July 2. The campaign against the death penalty began in Bahman 1402 (January-February 2024) by 10 political prisoners held in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, and so far, political prisoners in 9 prisons of the Islamic Republic have expressed their support for this campaign by going on hunger strikes every Tuesday. According to the Dadban Legal Consultation Center, the participating prisoners stated in a declaration that in the past week, the institutions of the Islamic Republic have issued indictments for 15 political prisoners on the charge of 'Baghi' (rebellion). They mentioned the issuance of 'medieval death sentences' as punishments for the charge of 'Baghi' against these citizens and political prisoners. The names of the prisoners accused of 'Baghi' include Nasim Gholami Simiyari, Hamidreza Sahlabadi, Ehsan Ravajiyan, Amin Sokhanvar, Ali Herati Mokhtari, Hossein Mohammad Hosseini, Hossein Ardestani, Amir Shah Valayati, Vahid Bani Amiri, Pouya Ghobadi, Mohammad Taghavi, Mojtaba Taghavi, Babak Alipour, Abolhasan Montazeri, and Asghar Daneshfar. In addition to these 15 individuals, in recent days, the 'Free Sharifeh Campaign' reported on the charges of 'Baghi' against Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist imprisoned in Lakan Prison in Rasht. Currently, political prisoners in Evin, Gohardasht, Tabriz, Khorramabad, Khoy, Naqdeh, Saqez, Mashhad, and Central Karaj prisons have joined the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign. The Iran Human Rights Campaign criticized the record of the 'political-religious repression of the Islamic Republic' on June 7, emphasizing that the Iranian government has repeatedly used false religious charges, such as 'Corruption on Earth' or 'Baghi,' to suppress opponents and religious forces in minority regions. In addition to political prisoners, prisoners related to drug offenses are also considered victims of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. Recently, four Iranian lawyers, in an open letter to the 'United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,' described the execution of drug offenders as a 'gross violation of the right to life' and urged this international body to condition any cooperation with the Islamic Republic on an immediate halt to these executions. Warnings from members of the 'Black Tuesdays' campaign: Khamenei's emphasis on ignoring human rights principles is a serious warning. The Human Rights Organization reported 237 executions in Iran over five months, and eight prisoners at risk of execution in Gohardasht Prison joined the 'No to Execution' campaign. Human Rights Monitoring in Iran: A prisoner is executed every six hours in Iran.