Weekly hunger strikes by political prisoners in Iran, “No to execution Tuesdays,” began 64 weeks ago and had spread to at least 38 prisons by April 8.
The reactionary bourgeois-clerical regime executed at least 975 prisoners in 2024, the highest number since 2015 and one of the highest in the world.
On March 18 union members, former prisoners and other defenders of civil rights protested outside Lakan Prison in Rasht. They demanded the revocation of death sentences for Sharifeh Mohammadi, a former member of the Coordinating Committee to Help Create Labor Organizations, and Manouchehr Fallah.
Fallah was tortured to extract a confession that he placed two sound bombs that caused no damage in front of government buildings. He was accused of “waging war against God.”
On April 5 the regime executed five political prisoners without giving advance notice to their families or granting them a final visit. The five were arrested in 2015 and later charged with “baghi” — armed rebellion — despite lack of any evidence. Family members say they had been beaten and tortured.
Torture, solitary confinement and threats against family members are frequently used by the regime to force prisoners to confess. Despite the right to a lawyer guaranteed in the Iranian constitution, prisoners are frequently denied access to a lawyer of their choice.
Many of those facing execution were convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs. Executions fall disproportionately on members of oppressed nationalities, including Baluchs, Kurds, Arabs and others.
More than 50 political prisoners are facing execution. In addition to Mohammadi, there are at least two other women on the list — Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi. The Iranian government claims Azizi and Moradi are members of the Kurdistan Free Life Party. Moradi was detained after returning to Iran from the Kurdish region in Syria. She had joined Kurdish forces there in the fight against Islamic State and was wounded in battle. Azizi had volunteered there to aid refugees fleeing Islamic State.
In an April 8 statement, political prisoners leading the weekly protests called for “complete abolition of the death penalty.”