The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued an urgent call to the international community yesterday to save the lives of political prisoners held in Evin Prison.
These political detainees, all supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), have been sentenced to death in sham trials on the trumped-up charges of waging war against God. They are now on death row after the Supreme Court upheld their sentences.
The goal of the regime is to intimidate the Iranian people, specifically young people, into no longer supporting the MEK or the Iranian Resistance. The regime wants to instill terror and intimidation into the public consciousness so that they can try to prevent popular uprisings.
Worse still, it seems that even international outrage cannot save the prisoners, with protester and champion wrestler Navid Afkari being executed (or killed under torture) despite an international campaign.
Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi reacted to the world’s condemnation for this heinous act in a blasé manner, telling judges to ignore “commotions” and issue verdicts according to Sharia law. At the same time, Ali Bagheri, the Judiciary’s International Affairs Deputy, accused the protesters in foreign countries, including Iranian ex-pats, of having Iranian blood on their hands, while also attacking European countries for allowing these peaceful protests to go ahead, tweeting that they “support murder under the guise of human rights”.
In response to a tweet about Afkari’s execution by the German Ambassador to Iran, he wrote: “If they have no clue about righteousness and justice, they should at least respect diplomatic norms and do not become a mouthpiece for spreading lies like an opposition group.”
This is a common tactic of the regime, to blame the MEK for anything and everything, hoping that it could tarnish the image of the Iranian resistance.
The NCRI wrote: “The Iranian Resistance underscores that the religious dictatorship ruling Iran has resorted to the execution of those detained during the uprising in fear of the crisis of overthrow. It calls on the United Nations Security Council, the Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and all human rights organizations as well as the European Union and its member states, to take urgent action to save the lives of death row prisoners in Evin Prison and other prisons across the country. It also reiterates the imperative of an international delegation visiting Iran’s prisons and meeting with those imprisoned during the uprising to prevent further executions.”
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