Hundreds of Civil and Political Activists Demand the Unconditional Release of Political and Ideological Prisoners

Hundreds of civil and political activists inside and outside Iran issued a joint statement supporting "all political, ideological, and press prisoners" and called for their unconditional release. The statement noted that "political prisoners are deserving children of the nation" and emphasized, "Let us not allow the voices of those who were the voices of you and me to fade away for a moment." The signatories pointed out that all political, ideological, and press prisoners have been imprisoned "without committing any crime or sin," contrary to the principle of "legality of crime and punishment," and that their families have also been punished, suffering from compounded oppression and injustice. They highlighted that all political, press, and ideological prisoners have been imprisoned based on principles "34, 32, 36, 37, 61, 159, and 168 of the Constitution" in an "illegal, non-independent, and incompetent judicial authority, without a fair trial and the right to legitimate defense," and demanded their unconditional release. The statement further noted: "Given the dire conditions of some prisoners and the unbearable prison conditions for all these dear ones, it is necessary for all of us, regardless of our group or beliefs, to rush to the aid of these free women and men and demand their immediate release; tomorrow may be too late." The signatories also expressed their concern about the possibility of executing political prisoners sentenced to death in the coming days. Currently, at least 54 prisoners labeled as "political and security" are facing death sentences in the prisons of the Islamic Republic under charges including "baghy, moharebeh, and ifsad fil-arz." Among the signatories are Iskandar Lotfi, Ismail Abdi, Ahmad Raft, Akbar Afshari, Akram Qasempour Kermani, Elaheh Mizani, Behrouz Bayat, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Parvin Esfandiari, Parvin Sepahvand, Pouya Jigarvand, Javad Laleh Mohammadi, Hassan Nayeb Hashem, Hossein Shirzad, Hamid Asafi, Hoorieh Farajzadeh Tarani, Khadijeh Moghadam, Khosrow Khosravi, Rada Mardani, Reza Shahabi, Rezvan Moghadam, Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, Zhila Makvandi, Saeed Afshar, Saideh Montazeri, Shapur Ehsani, and Shoaleh Pakrovan. Shahla Entesari, Aliyeh Eghdam Doost, Abbas Vahidiyan Shahroudi, Efat Mahbaz, Ali Kolai, Fatemeh Asanlou, Fatemeh Mohabaliyan, Fatemeh Maleki, Farhad Farjad, Farideh Shahgoli, Kourosh Zaeem, Giti Pour Fazel, Leila Mirghafari, Mahbubeh Farokhzadi, Mohsen Torkaman, Mohammad Seyfzadeh, Mohammad Ali Noori, Mohammadreza Ali Payam, Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, Mostafa Yar Ahmadi, Mostafa Badkoube'i, Masoumeh Dehghan, Mahvash Fathi, Mitra Imam, Nahid Entesari, Nahid Hosseini, Narges Mohammadi, and Nasrin Sotoudeh are also among the other signatories of the statement, which has been signed by hundreds.