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Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences against three young men arrested during the November 2019 protests.

Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi were sentenced to death after Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted them of several charges including “enmity against God” (moharebeh).

On 18 February 2020, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson accused them of being “riot leaders” who had “set fire to banks and petrol stations during the nationwide protests and had filmed their acts and sent the videos to foreign media”.

Zeinab Jalalian, who was transferred from Khoy Prison to Qarchak Prison on April 29, has announced that she will go on a hunger strike in the coming days if she is not transferred back to Khoy Prison. The political prisoner was recently diagnosed with the Coronavirus but is being held in the quarantine ward of Qarchak Prison with no access to medical treatment.

On June 16, 2020, a Tehran-based human rights activist posted the news about Zeinab Jalalian’s transfer to Qarchak Prison on his Facebook page. “Despite being infected with the Coronavirus, the conditions of her imprisonment have not changed. Even when she was taken to the hospital to be tested for the Coronavirus, she was kept in handcuffs, including during the examination. She has sent letters to many authorities, but no one has paid any attention to her difficult circumstances,” he wrote.

Political prisoner Zahra Safaei was threatened with assault and murder in Qarchak Prison by ordinary criminals hired by the Ministry of Intelligence.

Three prisoners incited by Ministry of Intelligence agents threatened Zahra Safaei to death on Sunday, 13 June.

Based on Article 69 of the State Prisons Organization’s regulations, authorities are required to divide prisoners Article 69 of the State Prisons Organization’s regulations states: “All convicts, upon being admitted to walled prisons or rehabilitation centres, will be separated based on the type and duration of their sentence, prior record, character, morals and behaviour, in accordance with decisions made by the Prisoners Classification Council.”

Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish political prisoner serving a life sentence, has contracted the coronavirus at Qarchak Prison in Varamin, her father told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network.

The Ministry of Intelligence has not allowed her to be taken to a hospital outside the prison.

Ali Jalalian said, “On Tuesday night, June 2, Zeinab Jalalian was transferred to the prison’s medical centre due to severe shortness of breath and after being examined and tested by a doctor, she was diagnosed with Clovid-19.”

An Ahwazi Arab prisoner held in solitary confinement in Sheiban Prison, Khuzestan province, has been denied medical treatment despite his critical condition and being placed under torture.

Prisoner of conscience Jaber Alboshokeh needs medical care for injuries caused by beatings by security forces during the violent repression of protests that erupted in the prison on 31 March 2020 over the authorities’ failure to address concerns related to the spread of COVID-19 in the prison. He is suffering from wound infections and according to his relatives, his condition is so serious that he is unable to talk.

Monday, June 1, 2020, that the Coronavirus death toll in 324 cities across Iran has risen to 48,500. The number of victims in Tehran is at least 10,200, Khuzestan 3,690 people, Sistan and Baluchestan 1,520, Lorestan 1,510, Kermanshah 1,115, Kerman 565, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 295, and Hormozgan 230.

From February 20 to the late May 2020, the Coronavirus death toll in five hospitals out of 138 hospitals in Tehran Province that accept Coronavirus patients is at least 1,105. The number of victims in Fayyaz-Bakhsh Hospital is 440, Hasheminejad Hospital 195, Rajai Heart Hospital 180, Hazrat-e Rasoul Hospital 250, and in Zaim Pakdasht Hospital at least 40. On May 28, the death toll at 18 other hospitals in Tehran Province was 4,875.

 Iran: Urgent call for the immediate release of prisoners of conscience and halt to executions

Currently, the Covid19 fatalities in Iran have exceeded 42,000 deaths, while officials of Hassan Rouhani’s government are formally hiding the real numbers.

Despite the critical situation of the pandemic, Iran has continued to carry out executions of prisoners and still refuses to release prisoners, particularly prisoners of conscience as sanitary conditions have proven to be alarming and threatening.

In addition, the regime has launched a large-scale arrest of its opponents and has suppressed its democratic opposition, which reports daily on the situation of Corona in the country.

A catastrophe is in the making in the Central Prison of Karaj, according to reports from this prison. The inmates have appealed to the international community to take urgent action to save their lives.

Some 600 prisoners detained in a ward called “Souleh” in the Central Prison of Karaj are held under catastrophic conditions susceptible to infection with the coronavirus.
Souleh used to be the prison’s workshop which has now turned into the quarantine ward. The ward, 2500 sq. meters holds new arrivals and inmates returning from furlough.

More than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the lives of women political prisoners.

The following describes the status of several women political prisoners, new prison sentences, and arrests in recent days:
Political prisoner Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is being held in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, where her life is in danger.