On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, a group of families of political prisoners on death row gathered outside of Evin Prison to protest the execution orders issued against their loved ones.
The protesters held up photos of their imprisoned family members along with placards reading “No to Execution” and “Immediate Abolition of the Death Penalty,” demanding the revocation of these sentences.
Images from the protest show the faces of political prisoners on death row, including Behrouz Ehsani, Mehdi Hassani, Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, Seyed Abolhassan Montazer, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amerian, Babak Alipour, and Mohammad Javad Vafaie Thani, displayed by their families and supporters.
This protest demonstration comes amid growing concerns among families, human rights activists, and the international community over the increasing number of death sentences issued against political prisoners in Iran.
The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani.
On January 23, 2025, following extensive internal and international pressure, the death sentence of Pakhshan Azizi was suspended pending the completion of the appeals process and review. The death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi, annuled in October 2024, was reissued on February 13, 2025.
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 have been holding protest gatherings outside Evin Prison for four weeks, since February 4, 2025.
