Dr. Hannah Neumann
EU-Parliament
Human Rights Committee
Foreign Affairs Committee
Dear Hannah Neumann,
The Iranian Appeals Court upheld three death sentences that were imposed on three young men in February 2020. They had taken part in the nationwide protest demonstrations in November 2019. The very credible and reputable “Iran Human Rights News Agency (HRANA)” reports on June 24, 2020: “the confirmation of the death sentences passed on Amir-Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi, who had all been sentenced to prison, lashes and a death sentence by the Revolutionary Court for various charges brought against them has not been officially announced. However, the lawyer of one of the defendants in the case who did not want to be named for his own safety has informed HRANA of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Security forces identified and arrested Amir-Hossein Moradi from CCTV footage during the November 2019 protests. He was beaten during his arrest and interrogations and held in solitary confinement for a month. He was also tortured and coerced to appear on the state-run television to “confess” that he had set fire to banks and gas stations and damaged public property, even before having been tried and sentenced by a court. Moradi and other defendants in the case were denied access to lawyers during the investigation phase. The two others, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi, fled to Turkey after their friend Moradi was detained but were arrested in Turkey and despite producing ample evidence of being in danger for participating in the protests, Turkish security forces deported them to Iran where they were immediately arrested.
The three defendants in the case, all of them in their twenties, have been accused of affiliation with the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) which Iran has designated as a terrorist organization but have always denied the charges. Another defendant in the case, Ms. Mojgan Eskandari, has been sentenced to life on similar charges while a fifth defendant whose full name has not been disclosed is awaiting trial.
Dear Ms. Neumann, the death sentence mentioned can be enforced very soon. For this reason, we would like to ask you and the Human Rights Commission to work with the responsible Iranian authorities to overturn these judgments. The Tehran regime is seeking to neutralize the country’s protest potential through mass death sentences. We would be very grateful if you would do something effective very soon.
Best regards
Dr. N. Barati-Novbari
Alias Mehran Barati
Executive Board Member International Affairs
June 25, 2020
