In the early hours of Saturday, November 25, 2023, the death sentence of political prisoner Ali Saber Motlagh was secretly carried out in Lakan Prison of Rasht. Ali Saber Motlagh, son of Hossein, was 62 years old.
According to reports from a source close to the families of prisoners in Lakan Prison of Rasht, Ali Saber Motlagh was a political prisoner in the 1980s who had been detained on charges of supporting the Mojahedin organization (MEK). He had been released after several years, but he was arrested again in 2020 charged with being involved in the killing of an Iranian regime security official in 1981. Mr. Saber Motlagh had consistently denied this allegation.
According to reports received by Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), Ali Saber Motlagh was subsequently subjected to prolonged torture and interrogation by intelligence agents, and ultimately sentenced to death. In February 2021, in protest against his arbitrary arrest by security forces, Mr. Saber Motlagh went on a hunger strike that lasted for over a month. His physical condition deteriorated severely considering his pre-existing liver and kidney conditions. Nevertheless, his interrogators did not let up putting pressure on him.
In May 2023, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed a highly confidential list of political prisoners, which included the name of Geda-Ali Saber Motlagh, registered as a “special” prisoner by the Iranian judiciary. Ali’s name appeared in row 2084 of a list of 2,273 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) condemns the execution of political prisoner Ali Saber Motlagh and calls on the international community and all human rights organizations to condemn this inhuman measure and take immediate action to halt the executions in Iran.
