Stop the Execution of Three Iranian Protesters

Stop the Execution of Three Iranian Protesters

Started
June 27, 2020
Petition to
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This petition made change with 177,074 supporters!

Why this petition matters

The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to execute three young men for participating in the November 2019 demonstrations, which sparked after the government increased fuel prices by almost 300%.

The men were tried in court on charges of "participating in destruction” and “setting fire to properties as a means of attacking the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and sentenced to death.

Amirhossein Moradi:

  • Amirhossein Moradi, 25, was arrested on November 19th, 2019 and held for a week in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Tehran before being transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison for a month
  • He was held in prolonged solitary confinement and interrogated without a lawyer present.
  • He has said that he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shock treatment, and an interrogator standing on his chest. He has said he only “confessed” after his interrogators promised to provide him with medical treatment for the injuries he sustained, which they later refused.
  • Amirhossein Moradi’s “confession”, which was broadcast in a propaganda video on state television days before their trial took place, was used as evidence to convict them.

Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi

  • Mohammad Rajabi, 25, and Saeed Tamjidi, 27, were arrested on December 28th, 2019, and held initially in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Tehran.
  • They have also said they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including being kicked, beaten with batons, and hung upside down while repeatedly beaten on their legs and feet.
  • All were subjected to enforced disappearance for weeks after their arrests and denied access to a lawyer during the investigation phase of their case.

On November 20th, after hearing about Moradi’s arrest, Rajabi and Tamjidi fled to Turkey and applied for asylum.

Antalya Police introduced them to a UN representative who examined their evidence in the presence of an interpreter. The police eventually told them that their request would be processed, but they would have to remain at a camp in Turkey for up to 12 months.

On December 28th, despite their asylum applications, they were deported and subsequently arrested in Iran. This came just a few days after Iran’s President returned from a visit to Ankara.

Turkey is also responsible for the death sentences of Rajabi and Tamjidi as they knowingly returned these asylees to the country of feared persecution.

The judge presiding over their trials is Judge Abolghasem Salavati, also known as the “hanging judge” for imposing outrageous sentences, including the death penalty, lashes, and elongated jail terms, on countless political prisoners. The United States and European Union sanctioned him for violations of human rights and “unfair trials in Iranian Kangaroo courts.”

During the hearings, Amir Hossein Moradi repeatedly told the judge that his confessions had been extracted under pressure, threats, and torture and that he did not plead guilty to the original allegations.

Follow his long record of outrageous verdicts, the notorious Judge Salavati has sentenced all three to death, flogging, and imprisonment.

  • Mohammad Rajabi was sentenced to death, 10 years in prison and 74 lashes.
  • Amir Hossein Moradi was sentenced to death, 15 years in prison and 74 lashes of the whip.
  • Saeed Tamjidi was sentenced to death, 10 years in prison and 74 lashes of the whip.

Protesting and being able to voice one's opinion is a fundamental human right and no one should be imprisoned or executed for it. 

We, the undersigned, urge the United Nations, the European Union, and the rest of the International community to speak up against the death sentences and unfair trials of Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi, and Saeed Tamjidi.

We also urge the Iranian government to immediately halt the execution of these three young men, give their lawyers access to their cases, and investigate torture allegations used to obtain false confessions.

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This petition made change with 177,074 supporters!

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