As the Persian New Year begins, the families of political prisoners on death row, Vahid Bani Amerian and Pouya Ghobadi, gathered in protest on Tuesday in front of Evin Prison, condemning the death sentences issued against their loved ones.
Holding up images of Vahid Bani Amerian and Pouya Ghobadi, along with photos of other political prisoners on death row, including Behrouz Ehsani Eslamloo and Mehdi Hassani, the protesters demanded an immediate repeal of their execution orders.
The families of political prisoners carried placards with slogans such as “No to Execution” and “Abolish the Death Penalty Immediately,” voicing their strong opposition to the ongoing wave of executions in Iran.
This protest comes just a week after another gathering in the city of Sonqor, where families, relatives, and friends of these political prisoners had held a similar demonstration on the last Tuesday of the Persian year 1403 to express their deep concerns over the looming executions.
These protests took place amid growing concerns over the Iranian judiciary’s harsh crackdown on political dissent. In December 2024, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced six political prisoners—including Vahid Bani Amerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Shahrokh Daneshvarkar, Abolhassan Montazer, Babak Alipour, and Mohammad Taghavi—to execution, imprisonment, and exile.
On January 23, 2025, Amnesty International warned that these prisoners were at imminent risk of execution after being convicted on charges of “rebellion through membership in opposition groups.”
Human rights activists have repeatedly condemned the Iranian regime’s judiciary’s use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression. These protests serve as yet another demonstration of the widespread opposition to the government’s ongoing campaign of executions against political prisoners in Iran.
The 61st Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign: A Nationwide Hunger Strike in 38 Prisons
Today, March 25, 2025, the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign enters its 61st consecutive week with political prisoners across 38 prisons in Iran have launched a hunger strike in protest against the escalating number of executions in the country.
In a joint statement, the striking prisoners highlighted the alarming execution figures for the Iranian year 1403 (March 20, 2024 – March 20, 2025). According to their report, more than 1,150 prisoners, including 38 women, were executed. Among them were 135 Baluch and 104 Kurdish prisoners. Additionally, five political prisoners were put to death, while eight individuals were hanged in public executions—an act condemned as a brutal medieval practice. Shockingly, at least seven of those executed were juveniles.
