Alireza Golipour, a political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), born in 1986, passed away on Saturday, September 7, 2024, in Tehran due to heart disease. He had been released in 2021 after nine years of imprisonment due to severe illness and poor health and was receiving medical treatment outside prison. Before his first arrest in 2009, he was a distinguished doctoral student in electrical engineering in Germany sent by the regime’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Following his second arrest in 2012, Golipour was charged with membership in the PMOI, which the regime labeled as a “security-disrupting organization,” involvement in revealing the regime’s nuclear program, disturbing public opinion, and propaganda against the regime and its leadership. He was sentenced by notorious Judge Abolghassem Salavati to 39 years and 9 months in prison. This sentence was later reduced to 15 years with the efforts of his lawyers.
Alireza Golipour, a political prisoner and supporter of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), who had been released in 2021 after 9 years of imprisonment due to severe illness and deteriorating health, passed away on Saturday, September 7, 2024, in Tehran due to… pic.twitter.com/q8x7InORVj
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 9, 2024
His family had no information about his whereabouts for a year and a half after his arrest in 2012, and the regime coerced his wife into divorcing him through false reports. Furthermore, Golipour was denied visits until 2015.
In addition to prolonged interrogations and torture in solitary confinement, Golipour developed several illnesses due to these tortures, specifically heart conditions, frequent hemorrhages, a tumor in his chest, and eventually, lymphoma. To avoid the political and international backlash of his death under torture, the regime was forced to grant him “conditional release” for medical leave. The PMOI had previously informed international human rights organizations about Golipour’s extremely critical condition due to torture and pressure.
The state-run Rokna news agency wrote on December 26, 2021: “Golipour, a member of the National Elite Foundation, who underwent multiple surgeries during his more than nine years of imprisonment, also suffers from severe epilepsy in addition to colon cancer, leading to frequent seizures. The Forensic Medicine Commission and Evin Prison’s health services repeatedly warned judicial officials of the serious risks of keeping him in prison and requested his release to prevent further deterioration of his condition.”
He eventually passed away on September 7, 2024, due to heart disease.
In 2016, Golipour sent a message from prison to the Free Iran Summit, the annual gathering of the Iranian Resistance. Addressing the PMOI in his message, Golipour wrote: “With a heart full of longing for you, a joyful heart for your companionship, and a steadfast stance for your cause, I shout with a loud voice: as your younger brother, I will stand firm on my positions until the end of my life, and I am proud of my ideology and beliefs. For a free Iran.”
Salute to Alireza Golipour, the PMOI political prisoner who, as he himself wrote, "stood firm in his positions until the end of his life" and ascended with dignity.
I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, wishing them patience and fortitude.
Be proud of… pic.twitter.com/1asBsieKhg— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 9, 2024
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), extended her condolences to Alireza’s family and friends and wrote, “Salute to Alireza Golipour, the PMOI political prisoner who, as he himself wrote, ‘stood firm in his positions until the end of his life’ and ascended with dignity… Be proud of Alireza, for his perseverance serves as a model for freedom-loving students and the intellectual elite of our homeland in their struggle against a regime of ignorance and tyranny.”
