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Amnesty International warns about the imminent execution of six political prisoners in Iran

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Six Iranian men are at imminent risk of execution after being sentenced to death in October 2024 by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran after a grossly unfair trial, Amnesty International has warned. Amnesty International has called on authorities to immediately halt these executions, citing the arbitrary nature of the detentions and serious due process violations. The men — Abolhassan Montazer (65), Akbar Daneshvarkar (58), Babak Alipour (33), Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi (58), Pouya Ghobadi (31), and Vahid Bani Amerian (32) — were convicted of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) amid allegations of torture and forced confessions.

The convictions stem from accusations of affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main opposition group to the Iranian regime. Amnesty International reports that their trial, which lasted just two hours, was marred by serious violations of fair trial standards, including limited access to legal counsel and reliance on confessions extracted under duress.

The six men were arrested between December 2023 and February 2024 and detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. Amnesty International cites numerous accounts of torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, floggings, prolonged solitary confinement, and death threats at gunpoint, to coerce confessions.

Specific instances of abuse include eye injuries and severe physical pain suffered by Vahid Bani Amerian during his arrest, as well as restricted access to medical care for several detainees, including Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, who was denied necessary medication for gout. Despite these allegations, the Revolutionary Court failed to investigate claims of torture or the credibility of the so-called confessions.

The six men’s case is part of a larger wave of repression in Iran following the nationwide uprising in 2022. Amnesty International reports a sharp rise in executions, with at least 853 carried out in 2023 alone, a 48% increase from the previous year. In 2024, the regime topped it with more than 1,000 executions. Activists and dissidents, particularly those affiliated with ethnic minorities or opposition groups like the PMOI, have faced harsh penalties, including death sentences issued after secretive, summary trials.

Among those at imminent risk of execution are Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, who were sentenced to death in early January 2025 after the Supreme Court upheld their convictions related to alleged support for the PMOI. Their cases, like many others, have been criticized for reliance on coerced confessions and grossly unfair trials.

Revolutionary Courts, criticized for their lack of independence and susceptibility to their ties to intelligence institutions, have played a key role in the crackdown. Amnesty International notes that such courts routinely flout international standards of justice, making fair trial violations a systemic issue in Iran’s judiciary.

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