On Tuesday, January 23, 2024, Iranian regime authorities in Ghezel Hesar prison carried out the death sentence of Kurdish Sunni political prisoner Farhad Salimi.
On January 20, this Kurdish prisoner of conscience from Saqqez, who had been on hunger strike for three weeks, was transferred to solitary confinement, an indication of his looming execution.
On December 31, 2023, Anwar Khezri, Kamran Sheikhah, Khosrow Besharat, and Farhad Salimi, four prisoners of conscience sentenced to death went on a hunger strike following the transfer of Davood Abdollahi to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution and the grave danger of their own death sentence.
On January 2, 2024, the regime carried out the death sentence of Davoud Abdollahi after a week of transfer to solitary confinement at the Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. Ghasem Abesteh and Ayoub Karimi, other Kurdish prisoners of conscience, were also executed on November 5 and 29, 2023 at Ghezel Hesar Prison.
After the execution of Qasem Abesteh and Ayoub Karimi, security agencies told the families of the other prisoners to remain silent so that at least the bodies of the executed were delivered.
Amnesty International had warned about the imminent execution of Salimi and called for its immediate halt on January 22.
Tortured prisoner Farhad Salimi, from Iran’s Kurdish Sunni minority, faces imminent execution in Ghezel Hesar prison after transfer to solitary confinement yesterday. The authorities must stop his execution NOW. https://t.co/DqER0kRKoN pic.twitter.com/Nbi5Pi8RHO
— Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) January 22, 2024
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) called on the UN to intervene and save the life of Salimi and Mohammad Ghobadlou, another political prisoner who was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday.
“In these critical moments, I appeal for swift intervention from the UN and its pertinent agencies, specifically the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the death penalty,” Mrs. Rajavi said. “It is imperative that collective efforts are made to save the lives of Mohammad and Farhad.”
These two brutal executions come against the backdrop of a killing spree in Iran’s prisons, with more than 360 executions since the beginning of war in Gaza in October, including nearly 100 executions in the past month.
The regime is trying to spread fear in the increasingly restive society with repression and executions. But so far, its repressive measures have had the reverse effect of further strengthening the resolve of Iran’s youth to overthrow the regime.
Mrs. Rajavi expressed her condolences to Farhad’s friends and families and said that the execution will “will only further strengthen the determination of Iranian youths and people to overthrow the malevolent mullahs’ regime.”
The execution of #FarhadSalimi, a Sunni political prisoner, after 14 years of incarceration, will only further strengthen the determination of Iranian youths and people to overthrow the malevolent mullahs’ regime.
My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Farhad, as… pic.twitter.com/9ZmkyZnt49— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 23, 2024
