Escalating Repression: Death Sentences for Political Opponents in Iran
Introduction
The Iranian regime has intensified its crackdown on political dissidents, once again targeting prisoners of conscience with heavy sentences. Execution, torture, and long-term imprisonment have become systematic tools used to instill fear in society. This report examines the case of Babak Alipour, one of six political prisoners sentenced to death, and highlights international reactions to these unjust rulings.
Babak Alipour: A Victim of Three Arrests, Torture, and Medical Neglect
Babak Alipour, born in 1991 in Amol, is a law graduate who was arrested for the third time in January 2024. His first arrest dates to November 2018, when he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and insulting the Supreme Leader.” After being released, he was rearrested in December 2021 and spent two years in Evin Prison’s Ward 4 before being released in March 2023. However, his freedom was short-lived, and in his most recent arrest, he was held in solitary confinement in Evin’s Ward 209 for four months.
During his incarceration, Babak Alipour suffered from intestinal infections and prostate complications. Prison authorities systematically denied him access to medical care, subjecting him to severe physical and psychological distress. The lack of medical attention has exacerbated his condition, placing his life at even greater risk.
Fabricated Charges and an Unfair Trial
In May 2024, Iranian judicial authorities charged Babak Alipour with “armed rebellion (Baghi), membership and collaboration with the PMOI/MEK, and conspiracy against national security.” On October 6, 2024, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced him and six other prisoners to death. The trial, held without due process and under coercion, deprived the defendants of any meaningful legal defense.
Statement from Five Former Political Prisoners Defending Their Condemned Cellmates
In response to the death sentences of six political prisoners, including Babak Alipour, five former political prisoners issued a statement urging urgent international action to prevent the executions. Part of the statement reads:
“We witnessed how the bloody 1980s were shaped by Khomeini, leaving an unhealable wound in Iran’s political and social history. Forty years have passed, yet families still do not know where their loved ones are buried. The regime seeks to instill terror, using executions as a tool to silence the struggle for freedom.”
The signatories of the statement condemned these medieval sentences and called on international organizations, including the UN Human Rights Committee, to take immediate action and apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to prevent these executions.
Urgent Letter from 160 Experts and Prominent Figures to the UN
On December 4, 2024, Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), alongside more than 150 distinguished international experts, Nobel laureates, and NGOs, sent an urgent letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, calling for immediate action to halt the execution of six political prisoners, including Babak Alipour.
Urgent Letter by 160 Experts to Dr. Mai Sato – Iran 1988 Massacre
