This verdict was delivered by Judge Iman Afshari of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, notorious for his harsh rulings. The two political prisoners face execution under charges of rebellion (“baghi”), waging war against God (“moharebeh”), corruption on Earth, membership in the PMOI, conspiracy against national security, and gathering classified information.
Behrouz Ehsani was arrested in Tehran on December 6, 2022, and has since endured torture in Evin Prison’s Ward 209, operated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. Currently, he is imprisoned in Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Mehdi Hassani was arrested on September 11, 2022, in Zanjan and similarly subjected to physical and psychological torture in Evin Prison’s Ward 209. He is now held in Ward 8.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has strongly condemned these death sentences. In an April 2024 statement, the NCRI warned that Iran’s judiciary had sought death penalties for several political prisoners, including Ehsani and Hassani. The NCRI highlighted the prolonged solitary confinement and severe torture faced by these prisoners, particularly Mehdi Hassani, who spent over seven months in isolation.
The NCRI has called on international human rights organizations, the UN, and the international community to urgently intervene and prevent the executions. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, emphasized that the regime is using executions as a tool to prevent uprisings, especially following the anniversary of the 2022 protests. She warned that the regime views the international community’s silence as an endorsement of its crimes, allowing it to continue violating international law.
Political prisoners in Evin Prison’s Wards 4, 8, and the women’s ward have also voiced their protest against these sentences. In a joint statement, they condemned the regime’s actions, asserting that these death sentences demonstrate the regime’s fear of another uprising. The prisoners declared that these actions only fueled further resistance, stating, “The era of intimidation is over.”
They called on their compatriots to stand against these unjust rulings and urged international human rights organizations to save their fellow inmates, Ehsani and Hassani, from execution. The NCRI has reiterated the need for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons, meet political prisoners, and bring attention to the regime’s atrocities.
In its latest appeal, the NCRI once again called on the United Nations, human rights defenders, the European Union, and member states to intervene, demanding urgent actions to free political prisoners and halt the executions of Ehsani, Hassani, and others facing similar fates. This escalating wave of executions highlights the regime’s deepening fears and growing resistance within Iran.
