The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' Campaign Holds the Government Responsible for the 'Suspicious Killing' of a Deceased Student

On Tuesday, February 30, prisoners involved in the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign across thirty-six prisons in the country announced in their weekly statement that at least 62 people, including two women, were executed in the month of February alone. In the fifty-sixth week's statement of this campaign, a copy of which was received by Voice of America, the confirmation of the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a political prisoner, by the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, which had previously been overturned by the Supreme Court, was condemned. In protest against this ruling and other execution cases, a group of ordinary crime prisoners in Lakan prison announced that they would go on a hunger strike in support of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign alongside political prisoners, both women and men. Members of this campaign also expressed their condolences regarding the suspicious death of Amir Mohammad Khalighi, a student at the University of Tehran, to his family, students, and the people of Iran. This campaign holds the government responsible for this incident and, while supporting the student protests, has called on other universities to show solidarity and support for the students of the University of Tehran. The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign, in its fifty-sixth week of hunger strikes by prisoners protesting the death penalty, announced that a group of prisoners from Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah, as the thirty-sixth prison, had sent a letter announcing their joining this protest movement. These prisoners will begin their hunger strike on February 30 in protest against the death penalty, which they consider inhumane and outdated. The statement further noted that public protests in the city of Dehdasht have been met with severe repression from security forces. Government forces have not only carried out widespread arrests of protesters but have also used live ammunition to suppress the protests. Members of the campaign consider these actions an attempt to instill fear among the people and have reminded that society remains in a state of protest and dissatisfaction. According to this statement, reports published in the media indicate that government repression is not limited to the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of protesters. This statement, citing a report from the newspaper Etelaat (February 25), declared that economic pressure and the government's misguided policies have led to a deterioration in the living conditions of many citizens, especially the sick and vulnerable groups. According to this report, families with children suffering from cancer and other special diseases have refrained from treating their children due to financial problems, resulting in these children facing gradual death. Human rights activists have also warned that the government does not even provide the minimum welfare and medical facilities for disabled children. The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign, condemning these conditions, has stated that defending the right to life is not limited to opposing death sentences but also includes supporting sick and disabled children. This campaign considers the current situation a clear case of 'crimes against humanity' and calls for immediate attention to the living and health conditions of vulnerable groups. According to this campaign, a hunger strike will take place in thirty-six prisons across the country on Tuesday, February 30, 1403. The names of these prisons include: Evin Prison (women's ward, wards 4 and 8), Qazalhessar Prison (units 3 and 4), Central Prison of Karaj, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorin Prison in Varamin, Arak Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Dashtgerd Prison in Isfahan, Sheyban Prison in Ahvaz, Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, Nazem Prison in Shiraz, Adelabad Prison in Shiraz (women's and men's wards), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Bam Prison, Kahnouj Prison, Tabas Prison, Jovin Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gonbad Kavous Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (men's and women's wards), Rudsar Prison, Hovigh Talesh Prison, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqdeh Prison, Saqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah. Gatherings of Iranians in Toronto in support of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign; Protests in London against executions in Iran; Iranian support for the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign; Continuation of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign in resistance against the Islamic Republic's killing machine; Execution of five prisoners in Iran; Transfer of three individuals to solitary confinement for execution; Execution of at least three individuals in Isfahan and Borujerd by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic.