Gholamreza Khosravi, an MEK supporter who was executed for providing financial support for the Simay-Azadi Satellite TV program
June 1st marked four years since the execution of
by Iran’s ruling regime. Khosravi was a hero to the people of Iran, and his death was symbolic of the oppression that the resistance movement (including the MEK) continues to fight against.
Khosravi was a 49-year-old father from Abadan in southwestern Iran. He was a known sympathizer of the MEK and had been convicted of aiding the MEK earlier in his life and sent to prison. He was later convicted of espionage on charges that he provided financial support to the “Voice of Freedom” television station, which is owned by the resistance movement. He was originally sentenced to six years in prison, three of which were suspended, but he was illegally retried by the statement and sentenced to death for “Moharebeh,” or enmity against God, because of his “active effort to pursue the goals of the PMOI [MEK],” according to the prosecutor on his case.
Khosravi spent over 40 months in solitary confinement in several prisons, including Kerman’s Ministry of Intelligence, Section 64 of the Ministry of Defence, and Section 240 of the notorious Evin Prison, before he was executed by hanging on June 1, 2014. On the day before his execution, Amnesty International condemned his sentence as a “violation of international and national laws” and called for the Iranian regime to halt his execution, stating that Khosravi had been denied a fair trial.
Despite this plea from Amnesty International, the regime carried out the execution the following day at Rezvan Gardens of Isfahan, with some of Khosravi’s first-degree relatives watching as he was hanged and then buried.
Khosravi’s execution was part of the regime’s strategy of intimidation toward the resistance movement, particularly MEK members, and supporters. The execution was only one of 120,000 executions of political prisoners carried out by the regime since its inception.
Khosravi’s execution was also partially in retaliation for resistance efforts by the political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison. Khosravi was seen as the principal instigator in the prisoner protests in the ward, and his execution was intended to deter further protests by the ward’s inmates.
Khosravi spent a total of twelve years of his life in Iranian prisons before giving his life to the cause of freedom. Khosravi is a symbol of the resistance movement whose perseverance in the face of imprisonment, torture, and death serves as an example for those fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran. Khosravi is also an example of the corruption and cruelty of the ruling regime and its violent suppression of all dissent from its people.
Staff Writer