Two political prisoners sentenced to death, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, remain detained in the high-security ward of Qezel-Hesar Prison in Karaj, with no updates on their current status. According to their lawyers, Iran’s Supreme Court has accepted their request for a retrial, which legally halts their execution. As a result, they should have been transferred from solitary confinement to Evin Prison or to the political prisoners’ ward in Unit 4 of Ghezel Hesar. However, Heshmatollah Hayat al-Ghaib, the head of Tehran Province Prisons Organization, continues to block their transfer.
Latest Developments in Their Case
On Sunday, January 26, 2025, the two political prisoners—Behrouz Ehsani Eslamloo and Mehdi Hassani—were moved to the high-security ward in Unit 3 of Qezel-Hesar Prison. This section is designated for prisoners on death row in their final days before execution. At the time, their death sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court, and their cases had been referred for execution.
The following day, Monday, January 27, 2025, their requests for a retrial were officially registered with the Supreme Court, and their executions were suspended. Despite this legal development, the authorities have not yet transferred them out of the high-security ward to a general prison section.
Background on the Prisoners
Behrouz Ehsani, a 70-year-old political prisoner, was arrested in November 2022 in Tehran. After three and a half months of interrogation, he was transferred to Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Following 22 months of uncertainty, in September 2024, he and Mehdi Hassani, a 48-year-old prisoner from Zanjan, were sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran.
Both were charged with:
Baghi (armed rebellion against the state)
Moharebeh (enmity against God)
Corruption on Earth
Membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK)
Gathering classified information
Collusion against national security
Despite the suspension of their death sentences, their continued detention in a high-security ward raises concerns about their fate and the Iranian authorities’ ongoing disregard for due process and prisoners’ rights.
