New Charges and Sentences for Political Prisoners Mohammad and Mehdi Khodakarami in Khorramabad, Iran

Fabrication of New Cases and Issuance of Additional Sentences for Political Prisoner Brothers Mohammad and Mehdi Khodakarami in Khorramabad

On Monday, December 16, 2024, the Iranian regime’s judiciary issued new sentences for two political prisoners and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization (MEK/PMOI), Mohammad and Mehdi Khodakarami. In addition to their previous convictions, they were sentenced to one year of imprisonment and two years of exile in Meybod and Hendijan on charges such as “propaganda against the regime in favor of opposition and hostile groups.” The sentences explicitly prohibit the use of mobile phones and any electronic devices. The verdicts were delivered to them electronically, with the condition that no paper copies of the rulings should be provided.

Mohammad Khodakarami, 32, and Mehdi Khodakarami, 42, are currently held in Parsilon Prison in Khorramabad. They were arrested in March 2023 in Tehran, where they were subjected to severe torture in Evin Prison. They were subsequently sentenced to eight and four years of imprisonment, respectively, on charges of “membership in the PMOI” and “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security.”

The regime’s judiciary, which had been preparing new cases against them for some time, held two sham online trials on November 20 and December 8, 2024. The November 20 session was conducted using the prison guard’s phone. The person on the other end of the line, identifying himself as the judge, persistently questioned Mohammad and Mehdi why they are supporting the PMOI, claiming, “This organization is finished.”

On May 9, 2024, in Khorramabad Central Prison, several inmates, including Mohammad and Mehdi Khodakarami, protested against water cuts and other restrictions. They were brutally beaten and transferred to solitary confinement by the prison’s warden, Golabetoon, and its head of security, Rashidi. Several protesting prisoners sustained broken limbs during this crackdown. Beginning May 21, Mohammad and Mehdi were exiled to Parsilon Prison for allegedly inciting inmates and supporting the “No to Execution Tuesdays” hunger strike while expressing solidarity with the PMOI.

The Iranian Resistance once again emphasizes the urgent need for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and meet with prisoners, particularly political detainees.

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

20 December 2024