Prisoners in Iran hold 35th week of “No to Executions Tuesdays”

Iranian political prisoners on hunger strike in protest to executions

By Mahin Horri September 24, 2024

Inmates in multiple prisons across Iran held the thirty-fifth week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign on Tuesday, September 24, protesting the wave of executions in Iran by holding hunger strikes. The prisons that took part in the campaign include: Evin (Women’s Ward, Ward 4, and Ward 8), Ghezel Hesar (Unit 3 and Unit 4), Karaj Central Prison, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Nezam Prison in Shiraz, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Bam Prison, Mashhad Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Salmas Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, and Kamyaran Prison.

In their statement, the striking prisoners expressed sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Tabas mine explosion and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. They emphasized that such tragedies, which have repeatedly occurred in the country, are the result of systemic corruption and inefficiency in the authoritarian government.

The prisoners’ statement reads: “In the past week, the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran sentenced two political prisoners, Mehdi Hassani and Behrooz Ehsani, who were arrested during the 2022 protests, to death behind closed doors, violating their right to a fair trial, based on fabricated charges. Additionally, two other political prisoners, Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani and a Kurdish prisoner named Hatam Ozdemir, who have been imprisoned since 2019, were also re-sentenced to death.”

The prisoners involved in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign called on state representatives at the United Nations and all human rights organizations to question and hold accountable the head of the government of executions, who has gone to the United Nations, for the widespread wave of killings and executions of prisoners.

The strike comes as the regime continues to ramp up executions. On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the regime executed three people in Yazd and Karaj.

On September 17, 2024, regime authorities carried out two other executions in Bandar Abbas and Gorgan. On September 16, 2024, four prisoners were executed in Shiraz and Isfahan. And on September 15, 2024, the regime executed four prisoners in Shiraz and Tabriz.

At least 178 have been execution in the Iranian months of Mordad and Shahrivar (July 22 till September21).

Moreover, on September 16, 2024, regime authorities announced that two prisoners convicted of theft had been sentenced to finger amputation. The inhumane sentencing of finger amputation comes at a time when billion-dollar thefts and embezzlement by the regime’s leaders and various factions have become routine, without anyone being arrested or punished.

On September 26, 2024, the regime-affiliated Asr Iran website reported: “At the end of Iranian year of 1402 (March 2024), the total loans given to employees of 11 banks exceeded 124 trillion tomans, mostly with low interest rates and long-term repayment plans.” Regime-affiliated media also reported in December 2023 about a €3.7 billion embezzlement scandal in Debsh Tea Company, linked to the IRGC and Khamenei’s office. Yet, the masterminds behind these astronomical thefts have neither been named nor punished by the judiciary.