Tehran, February 11, 2025 – For the second consecutive week, families of political prisoners on death row, accompanied by human rights activists, staged a protest outside Evin Prison, demanding the reversal of execution orders.
Holding photographs of their loved ones, the protesters chanted slogans such as “No to Execution” and “Abolish the Death Penalty”, calling for an end to capital punishment.
The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi, Behrouz Ehsani, and Mehdi Hassani, while Azizi’s request for retrial has been rejected.
Additionally, Vahid Bani Amerian, Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, Pouya Ghobadi, Seyed Abolhassan Montazer, Babak Alipour, Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, and Varisha Moradi remain on death row in Evin Prison. At the same time, Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani faces execution in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad.
In December 2024, six political prisoners—Vahid Bani Amerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Seyed Abolhassan Montazer, Seyed Mohammad Taghavi, and Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar—were sentenced to death, imprisonment, and exile on charges of “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).”
The families of political prisoners on death row had previously gathered outside Evin Prison on February 4, 2025, in a similar demonstration against the death sentences.
Protests against capital punishment have intensified in recent months, with human rights organizations urging the judiciary to revoke execution orders and review the cases of political detainees.
On January 23, 2025, Amnesty International issued an urgent warning on its official website, revealing that these six prisoners, sentenced to death by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on December 1, 2024, face imminent execution. They were convicted under the charge of “rebellion through membership in opposition groups against the Islamic Republic.”
Amnesty International strongly condemned the trial, highlighting reports of torture and mistreatment used to extract forced confessions. The organization stressed that these coerced confessions undermine the legitimacy and transparency of the judicial process. The accused have repeatedly denied allegations of armed action against the state.
No to Execution Tuesdays Campaign Carries On
On the same day, Tuesday, February 11, 2025, the “No to Execution” campaign marked its 55th consecutive week, with prisoners across Iran joining the movement through hunger strikes. This campaign has now spread to 35 prisons, including the women’s ward of Evin Prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht, and Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, where detainees actively participate.
In their latest statement, the prisoners declared:
“We, the members of the No to Executions Tuesday Campaign, stand united and resolute in 35 prisons across Iran, unequivocally condemning all executions in the country. With steadfast resistance, we raise our voices in a resounding cry: No to executions!
We also issue a stark warning to all international bodies, human rights organizations, and conscientious individuals worldwide: In Iran, the machinery of executions is not a tool of justice but a means of repression and a mechanism for the regime’s survival.
Each execution is a price the Iranian people are forced to pay to conceal the regime’s crimes. Therefore, we once again call upon all civil institutions, both domestic and international, to take urgent and decisive action to put an end to these atrocities.”
