Watchdog

In a rare act of defiance, several families of prisoners who have been handed death sentences protested in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Karaj, near the Iranian capital.

In videos posted on social media on September 6, many of the protesters, identified as relatives of those on death row, held placards saying "Stop executions."

Human rights organizations say the relatives of the demonstrators are imprisoned in prisons in the cities of Karaj and Ghezelhesar.

According to the Iran Human Rights Society, at least 18 prisoners sentenced to death have been transferred to solitary confinement from the Karaj, Minab, and Gohardasht central prisons to different parts of Iran.

As of September 7, at least 388 executions had been recorded in Iran this year, according to the Iran Human Rights Organization.

Some human rights sources, including the Human Rights Activists News Agency, say more than 85 percent of executions in Iran are carried out "in secret and without official and public information."

The rise in the number of executions began in September 2021 after Ebrahim Raisi, a former head of the judiciary, became president and former Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei took over the judiciary.

Activists say that Iran is in the throes of a major crackdown as protests continue over living conditions in a severe economic crisis.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Kurdish activist Soada Khadirzadeh, who tried to end her and her baby's life while in detention, has been sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison by a court in the western Iranian city of Mahabad.

The Hengaw Human Rights Organization said Khadirzadeh was accused of "assisting in the murder of one of the officers of the Urmia Intelligence Department" and "helping her husband run away."

Khadirzadeh, who was arrested by security forces in October 2021, has denied the charges.

Khadirzadeh, who gave birth while in detention, tried to end her life by hanging herself and giving pills to her infant in protest of her detention.

Both she and her infant were saved by other prisoners.

Khadirzadeh is awaiting trial in another case on a charge of "membership in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran."

In July, Khadirzadeh was denied postnatal and postsurgical care for several days even though she was suffering from postoperative bleeding after giving birth by Caesarean section. Her infant's health was also poor.

During her pregnancy, Khadirzadeh said she was held hostage on false accusations.

Urmia prison officials have also rejected her requests for temporary medical release despite a doctor's certificate outlining her physical ailments.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda