Iranian Prisoners in 62 Facilities Join 137th Week of Anti-Execution Hunger Strike

On Tuesday, September 8, prisoners across 62 prisons in Iran went on a hunger strike during the 137th week of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign to protest the ongoing implementation of death sentences. In a statement, campaign members reported that at least 11 prisoners were executed in Iran over the past week, bringing the total number of executions since late August to over 45. The statement also highlighted the issuance of a death sentence for Ali Zarei, a protester who suffered an eye injury during the 2022 nationwide demonstrations. According to the reported details, Zarei is currently held in Ghezel Hesar Prison. Campaign members further reported the suspicious death of Erfan Mirzaei, a political prisoner held in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, holding state authorities accountable for his death. Islamic Republic judicial officials have not yet provided any explanation regarding the cause or circumstances of his death. In another section of the statement, it was noted that the Supreme Court had previously approved a judicial review request for Alireza Sepahi, a prisoner sentenced to death in Isfahan, and had referred his case to a parallel branch for retrial. However, the parallel branch rejected the retrial request without holding a hearing and forwarded the case to the enforcement office for execution of the sentence. The campaign additionally announced that Taraneh Rahimi, Navid Elyasi, Abolfazl Dadgostar, Mehdi Mansouri, Ahmadreza Saeedi, Mehrdad Boueri, Mohammad-Mehdi Asadi, Armin Gholami, Parsa Jafari, and Mehdi Jafari Khosravi have each been sentenced to death and 11 years in prison. According to the same statement, Romina Rahimi and Milad Boueri were each sentenced to 36 years in prison, Hamed Mehralian to 26 years, and Setayesh Saedi, Sajjad Abedi, and Ali Boueri to 16 years each. The total length of the prison terms issued for the 16 defendants in this case amounts to 256 years. All of these sentences were issued by the court of first instance. Members of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign described the surge in executions and mass death sentences as a reflection of the regime's fear of nationwide protests and upcoming uprisings. Highlighting the economic crisis, triple-digit inflation, the dollar exchange rate rising to 230,000 tomans, the official increase in fuel prices, and the public's declining purchasing power, the signatories warned of the potential for widespread protests. The signatories called on international institutions, human rights defenders, and opponents of the death penalty to stand with the prisoners and take action to halt executions in Iran. The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign began in February 2024 with a weekly hunger strike by several political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison. Participating prisoners go on a hunger strike every Tuesday to protest executions, and the number of participating prisons has steadily expanded over time.