Three protesters are imminently facing the death penalty in Iran, prompting vehicles to surround the prison where the detainees are held in an effort to prevent them being taken for execution.
On Sunday night, and again on Wednesday, vehicles made traffic jams outside Esfahan (Isfahan) Central Prison hoping to stop the executions of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, reported London-based Iran International.
A joint letter written by the three men from prison was printed by the news agency. “Hello. We ask our dear fellow citizens not to let them kill us. We need your help. We need your support,” wrote Kazemi.
No reliable evidence convicts the three detainees, who say that their incriminating confessions of having killed two Revolutionary Guards (Iran’s paramilitary trained to stifle dissent) and a police officer during the country’s widespread protests, were forcibly made under torture.
Iran’s government-endorsed TV channel aired footage of the forced confessions on Monday night, raising concerns that the men will be killed in a matter of days.
Rights watchdogs, including Amnesty International, have condemned Iran’s government for allegedly making an example of the three innocent men in order to control the popular country-wide uprisings the country has seen since September.
“The use of the death penalty against these men is a blatant act of vengeance against a courageous generation of protesters for steadfastly demanding the rights of Iranian people,” Amnesty said.
“Amid the authorities’ horrific execution spree of scores of people since the end of April 2023, the international community must take urgent and bold action to stop the execution of these protesters before it is too late,” it added.
