Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, August 5, 2020—The Iranian regime’s state-run media reported on Wednesday, August 5, that Mostafa Salehi, political prisoner arrested during the December 2017 nationwide uprising in Isfahan is executed.
“During the December 2017 riots, in some cities of Isfahan province such as Kahriz Sang of Najaf Abad, the rioters destroyed public properties and fired shots at ordinary people. During these clashes Sajad Shahsanayi, a public security keeper was shot dead while being surrounded unarmed. Mostafa was one those rioters involved in his direct shooting on January 1, 2018,” wrote the state-run Ghatreh news agency, while trying to justify execution of protesters.
The regime of Iran is notoriously renowned for making up scenarios and extracting forced confessions from political prisoners to justify their execution.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned the brutal execution of Mostafa Salehi, describing it as an effort to "terrorize the public and fend off popular upheavals."
I strongly condemn the execution of #Iran protester Mostafa Salehi in Isfahan. After million-strong campaigns forced the mullahs to retreat from executing 8 protesters, the regime attempted to retaliate by this execution to terrorize the public and fend off popular upheavals.
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) August 5, 2020
Mrs. Rajavi called for the international community to condemn the execution and take the necessary measures to protect political prisoners.
The UN and its member states,and international organizations must immediately censure the criminal execution of detained protestor Mostafa Salehi. A visit by an international fact-finding mission to Iranian prisons and prisoners is an ever greater imparative #StopExecutionsInIran
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) August 5, 2020
The regime carried out the death sentence of Mostafa Salehi today against the backdrop of ongoing international protests to executions in Iran. This is further testament to the regime’s lack of interest for international values and norms.
Less than two weeks ago, a worldwide twitter campaign, in which users tweeted 12 million times the hashtag #donotexecute, called for the halt of the death sentences for three youths arrested during the November 2019.
The regime’s Judiciary confirmed on Friday, July 10, the death sentences for three young protesters, Amir Hossein Moradi, Saied Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi, arrested during November 2019 nationwide uprising. The regime later stepped back due to the worldwide campaign.
The trial of the three men, which took place on 5-6 January 2020, was grossly unfair, according to Amnesty International.
The regime’s oppressive state security forces identified and arrested 25-year-old Moradi using CCTV footage obtained during the November 2019 protests. He was held for a week in a detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence & Security (MOIS) in Tehran before being transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for a month. Moradi was then placed under torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shock treatment and even an interrogator standing on his chest.
On July 31, the families of five protesters, sentenced to death for their participation in the December 2017 / January 2018 nationwide uprising in Iran, rallied outside the Isfahan judiciary building for days due to their extreme concern about the possible secret executions of their loved ones. Friends and relatives of these five inmates, held in Isfahan Central Prison, indicate authorities have banned these inmates from phone calls with their family members.
Earlier on July 13, the Iranian regime officials confirmed that on July 8 a man in Mashhad was executed for drinking alcohol on multiple occasions. Apart from the cruelty of this act, it is a manifestation of the regime’s reaction to its many crises such as the coronavirus outbreak, economic deadlock, conflicts between various currents of the regime, and its fear of another nationwide uprising.