Urgent Call to Action to Save the Lives of Political Prisoners Facing Death Penalty on Rebellion Charges
On Sunday, October 6, 2024, the mullahs’ regime’s judiciary began the trial of 7 political prisoners: Abolhassan Montazer, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amerian, Babak Alipour, Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, and Mojtaba Taghavi. After months of interrogation and torture in Evin Prison, they face charges of rebellion, membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), armed uprising against the government, and conspiracy against the regime’s security in collaboration with the PMOI. The trial is being held in Branch 26 of Tehran’s so-called Revolutionary Court, presided over by the criminal judge Iman Afshari.
Abolhassan Montazer, 65, holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and was a political prisoner in the 1980s. He was also arrested and imprisoned several times in 2018 and 2020. Last arrested in January 2024, he suffers from heart, lung, kidney diseases, and arthritis.
Pouya Ghobadi, 32, an electrical engineer, was arrested in March 2024 at the Chaldoran border and transferred to Evin. He had been arrested twice before.
Vahid Bani-Amerian, 32, with a master’s degree in management, was arrested in January 2024. Since 2017, he has been imprisoned for a total of four years over several arrests.
Babak Alipour, 33, a law graduate, was arrested in January 2024. Previously, he was arrested in November 2018 in Rasht and spent 4 years in prison.
Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, 58, a civil engineer, was arrested in January 2024.
Mohammad Taghavi, 58, was a political prisoner in the 1980s and 1990s. He was previously arrested in 2020 and spent three years in prison on charges of association with the PMOI. Mojtaba Taghavi, who has been in prison since March 2024, was arrested solely for being Mohammad Taghavi’s younger brother.
Mohammad Taghavi, who was forcibly brought to court directly from Ward 209 of Evin, refused to participate in the court session. He has been on hunger strike for a month in protest against the pressure and torture in solitary confinement, as well as against a guard holding a knife to the throat of a helpless Afghan prisoner.
The Iranian Resistance once again calls on the High Commissioner and the Human Rights Council, other relevant UN bodies, the European Union, and member states to take urgent action to save the lives of political prisoners who are being tried on rebellion charges and face execution, as well as to free all political prisoners. It emphasizes the necessity of an international fact-finding mission to visit Iranian prisons and meet with prisoners.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
7 October 2024