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HomeIran News NowIran Opposition & ResistanceFour Political Prisoners in Iran Face 33 Years and 592 Lashes

Four Political Prisoners in Iran Face 33 Years and 592 Lashes

NCRI

NCRI logoFour political prisoners were sentenced to a total of 33 additional years in prison and 592 lashes

Increased Sentences for Two PMOI Supporters

Political Prisoner’s Self-Immolation in Protest

On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, in a closed appeals court, the regime’s judiciary upheld the sentences of 40 inmates accused of involvement in the October 2022 fire at Evin Prison and informed their lawyers. On June 18, 2024, the judiciary blamed these prisoners for the fire and sentenced each to an additional 2 to 12 years in prison, lashes, and fines.

Political prisoners Luqman Aminpour, Meysam Dehbanzadeh, Reza Salmanzadeh, and Majid Roshannejad were among them. Currently, Aminpour, Dehbanzadeh, and Salmanzadeh are held in Qezelhessar Prison, while Roshannejad is detained in the Greater Tehran Prison. Aminpour, Dehbanzadeh, and Roshannejad were each sentenced to an additional 8 years and 8 months in prison, while Salmanzadeh received 7 additional years. Furthermore, all four were sentenced to two sessions of medieval flogging, with 74 lashes in each session.

Lukman Aminpour, a PMOI supporter, was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison for propaganda against the regime. His total sentence now amounts to 20 years and 8 months, along with 148 lashes. Meysam Dehbanzadeh, also a PMOI supporter, had been sentenced to 8 years and 8 months for alleged actions against state security. With the new ruling, his sentence has increased to 17 years and 4 months, along with 148 lashes.

These sentences were issued by Judge Abbasali Hozan and his associate Khosro Khalili Mahdariji in Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court.

In a statement dated June 20, 2024, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed that on June 18, 2024, the regime’s judiciary sentenced 40 Evin prisoners in a sham trial to 2 to 12 additional years in prison, lashes, and fines, accusing them of involvement in the October 2022 fire in Wards 7 and 8 of Evin Prison.

The NCRI had previously, through five statements issued between October 15 and October 22, 2022, detailed the events surrounding the fire, describing it as an act of repression by the regime against prisoners in the midst of nationwide uprisings. On October 15, 2022, the regime’s brutal prison guards and special units called NOPO attacked prisoners in Wards 7 and 8 using tear gas, batons, live ammunition, and pellet guns. Some prisoners were thrown from rooftops, and others in the prison yard were shot at. Tear gas was launched into Ward 8, suffocating many of the political prisoners held there.

Now, once again, prisoners are being forced to bear the brunt of the regime’s revenge for the 2022 uprisings through heavy sentences and lashes.

The regime’s escalating repression parallels a surge in executions, with dire consequences for prisoners. On Saturday, November 16, 2024, political prisoner Saeed Gharibi, born in Shiraz in 1994 and detained in Adelabad Prison, attempted self-immolation in protest of his cruel 15-year prison sentence and 15-year exile to Tabas. He suffered severe burns on his back and hands but, despite his critical condition, has been denied transfer to a hospital or essential medical care.

The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to dispatch an international fact-finding mission to inspect Iran’s prisons and meet with detainees, especially political prisoners.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

21 November 2024