As Iran marked the 76th week of the nationwide “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, the voices of political prisoners, the families of political prisoners, and protesting citizens once again rose in unison—echoing through streets, public squares, and from behind prison bars. What began as a grassroots initiative has now become one of the most resilient forms of resistance in the face of Iran’s repressive regime.
On Tuesday, July 8, 2025, families of political prisoners gathered in public spaces and circulated videos on social media, demanding an immediate halt to executions and the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
In one widely-shared video, the families of Vahid Bani-Amerian and Pouya Ghobadi—two political prisoners sentenced to death—held placards reading “No to Execution,” “Free Political Prisoners,” and “Stop the Executions,” while condemning the inhumane conditions in prisons such as Fashafouyeh. Their message was clear: “No to executions. Stop the killing. Free all political prisoners. Support No to Execution Tuesdays.”
Nationwide Protests Across Dozens of Cities
This week’s protests were not limited to the families of prisoners. The message of “No to Execution” was carried by citizens in the streets of Yazd, Nahavand, Gonbad-e Kavus, Sonqor, Hamedan, Mashhad, Gorgan, Karaj, Fasa, Shahroud, Sari, Jahrom, Torbat Heydariyeh, Tabriz, Babolsar, Ilam, Jiroft, and Zanjan, among others.
Week 76 of “No to Execution Tuesdays”
Political prisoners in 47 prisons across Iran have continued their hunger strikes—one of the most powerful acts of resistance within the regime’s prisons. This week’s statement from the striking prisoners commemorated the anniversary of the July 1999 student uprising and paid tribute to those who lost their lives in that movement, while warning of escalating state violence in recent weeks.
The statement highlighted the alarming rise in death sentences and executions, framing them as instruments of systematic terror by the Iranian regime.
The “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign has evolved into a broad-based movement reaching far beyond prison walls, confronting one of the regime’s most brutal tools of oppression head-on.
