Karaj, Iran – In a move that has sparked international condemnation, Iranian authorities at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj executed 23-year-old political prisoner Mohammad Ghobadlou on Tuesday, January 23, 2024.
Ghobadlou’s execution is linked to his participation in the widespread anti-regime protests that swept Iran following the killing of Mahsa Amini by the regime’s security forces for violating hijab rules.
Arrested in Tehran during the October 2022 uprisings, Ghobadlou was charged with the murder of a member of the regime’s repressive forces. The trial, overseen by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, notorious for his role in human rights abuses, was mired in controversy. Ghobadlou was denied his choice of legal representation, instead being assigned a court-appointed attorney. Convicted of “Corruption on Earth,” his death sentence was passed despite glaring judicial flaws and the absence of concrete evidence, with confessions allegedly extracted under torture.
International human rights bodies and activists vehemently opposed the sentence. Amnesty International highlighted the case’s irregularities, including torture and secretive proceedings, in a plea for intervention. Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), urged the United Nations and other global human rights entities to intervene, emphasizing the urgency to save Ghobadlou and other political prisoners like Farhad Salimi.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), called on the UN to intervene to save the life of Ghobadlou and other political prisoners on death row, including Sunni political prisoner Farhad Salimi
Despite these appeals, the regime upheld Ghobadlou’s execution. Protests erupted on the eve of his execution, with people rallying in front of Ghezel Hesar prison demanding a halt to the sentence. Ghobadlou’s lawyer denounced the execution as illegal even under Iranian laws. However, the regime proceeded, justifying the execution under its “Retribution in Kind” law.
Ghobadlou’s death marks the ninth execution of a political prisoner related to the 2022 nationwide uprising in Iran. The most recent before him was Milad Zohrevand, 21, executed in Hamedan in November 2023. These executions are part of the regime’s broader crackdown on dissent following the 2022 protests, which saw over 750 civilians killed by security forces, tens of thousands arrested, and dozens sentenced to death. Reports of severe torture, mistreatment in prisons, and post-release suicides due to alleged forced drug-induced depression have surfaced, painting a grim picture of the human rights situation in Iran.
The international community continues to grapple with the regime’s actions, as calls for intervention and accountability grow louder amidst the ongoing suppression of voices within Iran.
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