The judiciary of Iran’s regime has issued death sentences for two supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. This sentence, communicated to their lawyer, was issued by the notorious Judge Iman Afshari, head of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. These two political prisoners were sentenced to death on charges of “baghi (rebellion), moharebeh (waging war against God), corruption on Earth, membership in the PMOI, collecting classified information, and conspiracy against national security.”
The 69-year-old political prisoner Behrouz Ehsani was arrested on December 6, 2022, in Tehran and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center (Ward 209 of Evin Prison), where he was subjected to torture. He is currently held in Ward 4 of Evin Prison.
Mehdi Hassani, 48, was arrested on September 11, 2022, in Zanjan and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where he was subjected to physical and psychological torture. He is currently imprisoned in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.
In a statement on April 8, 2024, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) had warned that “The prosecutor of the mullahs’ regime has requested the death sentence from the Revolutionary Court for a number of political prisoners, including Mehdi Hassani, Behrouz Ehsani… Mehdi has been in solitary confinement for more than seven months and has been subjected to physical and psychological torture.”
At the time, the NCRI also called on UN High Commissioner and Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, the International Fact-Finding Mission, and all human rights defenders to take urgent action to stop the execution of political prisoners and to secure their release.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, previously stated that the regime seeks to prevent a popular uprising demanding its overthrow by carrying out executions and killings, especially on the anniversary of the 2022 uprising. She added that the regime interprets the international community’s inaction in the face of this wave of executions as a green light to continue its crimes and violations of international law.
These inhumane sentences come as the regime has ratcheted up executions and has hanged several political prisoners since the beginning of the year.
Following the criminal verdict by the regime’s judiciary, political prisoners and supporters of the PMOI in Evin Prison’s Wards 4, 8, and the women’s ward, strongly protested the brutal issuance of death sentences for Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani in a joint statement, declaring:
“The issuance of such sentences coinciding with the anniversary of the 2022 uprising shows the terror of the mullahs’ regime. They are unaware that the era of intimidation is over, and ‘the sentences of rebellion and execution ignite the flames of the uprising.’
“We, the political prisoners of Wards 4, 8, and the women’s ward of Evin Prison, while condemning any form of execution sentences, call on our compatriots to raise their voices against these criminal rulings and defend the lives of their loved ones and fellow citizens.
“We also appeal to international human rights organizations to make every effort to save the lives of our two cellmates from the unjust execution sentences.”
In a new statement, the NCRI called again on the United Nations, human rights advocates, the European Union, and its member states “to take urgent action to free political prisoners and save the lives of Behrouz Ehsani, Mehdi Hassani, and others facing execution. It also reiterates the necessity for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and meet with prisoners, especially political prisoners.”