Women Prisoners in Evin Protest Execution of Reza Rasayi; Inmates Chant 'Death to the Executing Government'

The Iran Human Rights Association and several former political prisoners announced that political women prisoners in Evin's women's ward protested around noon on Tuesday, August 7, against the execution of Reza Rasayi. According to this announcement, the female inmates in Evin, while chanting 'Death to the Dictator' and 'Death to the Executing Government,' broke the door of the guard office and clashed with the security guards who had come to suppress the prisoners. The Iran Human Rights Association reported that several women prisoners were injured and transferred to the prison infirmary due to beatings by the guards. Additionally, all phone calls of the female prisoners with the outside world have been cut off, and they are not even allowed to contact their families. It is said that a security committee has been formed in the prison to consider the possibility of relocating or 'punitive exile' of some prisoners to other locations. Reza (Gholamreza) Rasayi, a 34-year-old protester from Shahin Dezh in Kermanshah province and a follower of the Yarsan faith, was sentenced to death based on 'coerced confessions under torture' from several other detainees related to the killing of Nader Birami, the head of the intelligence department of Shahin Dezh, an accusation he had repeatedly denied. Following the news of Reza Rasayi's execution, the European Union issued a statement emphasizing the 'inhumane and cruel' nature of the death penalty, describing it as a denial of 'human dignity' and unacceptable, calling for the Iranian authorities to adhere to their commitments under international law, 'including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.' The weeping and distress of Reza Rasayi's mother, a Kurdish political prisoner executed in Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah, was noted. Moein Khazaeli stated: 'Reza Rasayi's case was full of flaws and defects; his execution was a government murder.' Reza Rasayi was one of thousands of protesters detained during the nationwide protests in Iran. Protests against Reza Rasayi's execution took place outside the Iranian consulate in Frankfurt. Prince Reza Pahlavi commented on Reza Rasayi's execution: 'Khamenei the Zahak takes revenge on the humiliation from the Iranian people.' The European Union reacted to Reza Rasayi's execution, demanding that the Islamic Republic immediately cease the execution of protesters. Amnesty International condemned the 'secret and shocking' execution of Reza Rasayi by the Islamic Republic. Reactions to Reza Rasayi's execution indicate that as long as the Islamic Republic remains, 'poverty, executions, and torture' will continue.