Iran Executes Five Political Prisoners Over Political Dissent

Author: Aamnah Fatima Khan

April 11, 2025

HRRC condemns the Iranian regime’s execution of five political prisoners following sham trials and forced confessions. The regime must be held accountable for weaponizing the death penalty to silence dissent and terrorize minority communities.

[Image source: Human Rights Activists in Iran]

On April 8, 2025, Iranian authorities executed five political prisoners—Farhad Shakeri, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, and Malek Ali Fadayi Nasab—at Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad, in an act widely denounced by human rights organizations. All five men detained in 2015 were charged with baghy (armed rebellion) for allegedly supporting banned Sunni opposition groups. Four of the killed prisoners were from the Sunni minority, raising grave concerns about ethnic and religious prejudice.

The executions took place without prior notification or final family visits. Families were only notified by telephone after the occurrence, and some are still awaiting the return of the corpses. The executions followed trials corrupted by severe due process violations, torture-induced confessions, and imprecise accusations meant to crush opposition. One prisoner was allegedly tortured with pepper spray applied to his rectum, causing long-term damage.

This incident is part of a larger trend of increasing political repression in Iran. According to Iran Human Rights, ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Baluchis, and Arabs, have a disproportionate representation in death sentence statistics, accounting for 85% of those executed for political reasons between 2010 and 2024.

At least 50 political prisoners, including women and protestors from the Woman, Life, and Freedom movement, currently face death. The case demonstrates Iran's growing dependence on capital punishment as a tool for political control and ethnic persecution.

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Glossary

• Accountable – Responsible for one’s actions and expected to justify them.

• Capital punishment – Legal process where a person is sentenced to death by the state for a crime.

• Confessions – Admissions of guilt, often given by someone who committed a crime (can be voluntary or forced).

• Corpses – Dead bodies, usually of humans.

• Dissent – The expression or holding of opinions that differ from those officially accepted.

• Disproportionate – Out of balance in size, amount, or degree compared to something else.

• Executed – Put to death, especially as a legal penalty.

• Imprecise – Not exact or clear; vague.

• Occurrence – An event or something that happens.

• Persecution – Cruel or unfair treatment, especially because of political, religious, or ethnic differences.

• Prejudice – A preformed opinion not based on reason or experience; often leads to unfair treatment.

• Rebellion – An act of violent or open resistance to an authority or government.

• Sunni – A major branch of Islam, differing in some beliefs and practices from Shia Islam.

• Terrorize – To create fear through violence or threats, especially for political purposes.

• Weaponizing – Using something (like a law, idea, or tool) as a weapon, often to harm or control others.

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References

1. https://www.eurasiareview.com/10042025-iran-regime-executes-five-political-prisoners-in-mashhad-oped/ 

2. https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7451/

3. https://iranhumanrights.org/2025/04/five-more-political-prisoners-hanged-in-iran-as-use-of-death-penalty-to-crush-dissent-surges/ 

4. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/09/iran-two-years-after-woman-life-freedom-uprising-impunity-for-crimes-reigns-supreme/