Sixth Co-Defendant at Imminent Risk of Execution Amid Reports of Torture and Coerced Confessions
Iranian authorities have executed five Sunni prisoners held in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. The executions were carried out at dawn on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, without prior notice to the families or granting the prisoners a final visit.
The executed individuals—Malek Fadaei-Nasab, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Farhad Shakeri, Abdolrahman Gorgij, and Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij—had been sentenced to death in a joint case. Another co-defendant, Issa Eid Mohammadi, remains at imminent risk of execution.
These six Sunni political prisoners had been held in Ward 6/1 of Vakilabad Prison and were transferred from that ward for execution. As of now, the death sentence of Issa Eid Mohammadi is the only one in this case that has not yet been carried out.
Arrest and Initial Trial
The six men were originally arrested in 2015 by the Ministry of Intelligence and transferred to Vakilabad Prison in 2016 after spending a year in pre-trial detention. In 2019, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad, presided over by Judge Mahmoud Davoudabadi, sentenced Farhad Shakeri, Issa Eid Mohammadi, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, and Abdolrahman Gorgij to death on charges of “baghi” (armed rebellion) through alleged membership in Hizb al-Furqan, a Salafi group, and the National Solidarity Front of Iranian Sunnis. Another defendant, Abdolbaset Orsan, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on similar charges.
The Supreme Court’s Branch 41, led by Judge Ali Razini, overturned the death sentences due to insufficient evidence and sent the case back for retrial.
Retrial and Final Verdicts
In July 2023, Branch 4 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ahmadian Salami, reissued death sentences against the same group. In August 2024, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court upheld these verdicts.
Later that month, Branch 29 of the Supreme Court reaffirmed the death sentences for the six Sunni political prisoners: Farhad Shakeri, Issa Eid Mohammadi, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Malek-Ali Fadaei Nasab, and Abdolrahman Gorgij. These sentences were issued in what human rights sources describe as a fabricated case orchestrated by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Allegations of Torture and Coerced Confessions
Multiple sources report that the Ministry of Intelligence subjected the defendants to severe physical and psychological torture during interrogation to extract false confessions. According to these reports:
- The prisoners were tortured with pepper spray, beatings to sensitive areas, and flogging.
- They were subjected to electric shocks and beatings with cables on the soles of their feet.
- Prisoners were confined to unsanitary holding areas infested with insects and exposed to wastewater leaking from upper floors.
- Authorities threatened to assault or murder family members if the prisoners did not comply with demands for confessions.
- Interrogators allegedly filmed forced confessions using video equipment placed in front of the prisoners during interrogations.
One report indicates that after arrest, the detainees were held in a hall where sewage from the upper floors drained onto them, causing extreme distress and exposure to pests such as lice and cockroaches.
Another account detailed threats of sexual violence against family members and the use of pepper spray on prisoners’ genitals and rectal areas. Prisoners were reportedly forced to confess to crimes they did not commit and falsely claim affiliation with armed groups to protect their families.
A source close to the family of one prisoner said that the authorities’ tactic of isolating detainees and withholding all news from their families constituted a form of psychological torture.
Prior to the executions, the six Sunni prisoners sent a letter from Vakilabad Prison exposing the torture and abuse they had suffered and appealed for international intervention. They consistently maintained their innocence, stating that their only “crime” was adherence to the Sunni faith.
