Physical Violence and Death Threats During Forced Transfer of Hundreds of Political Prisoners to Evin
8 August 2025
News category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – In the early hours of the morning, more than 600 political and security prisoners from the Greater Tehran Penitentiary (Fashafouyeh) were forcibly transferred to wards 7 and 8 of Evin Prison without prior notice, using security forces and physical violence. The transfer, which took place at around 4 a.m., involved the beating of several prisoners.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, a number of prisoners sentenced to death — including Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amrian, Mohammad Taghavi, Babak Shahbazi, Babak Alipour,and Akbar Daneshvarkar — were separately and violently transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison. Such sudden transfers to Ghezel Hesar are often used as a prelude to carrying out death sentences, raising serious concerns about the imminent execution of these prisoners.
Reports indicate that during the transfer:
- Mehdi Mahmoudian sustained a head injury after being struck with a baton.
- Khashayar Safidi suffered leg bleeding, and an officer pressed his hand against Safidi’s throat to the point of near suffocation.
- Matlab Ahmadian, who is in poor health, was beaten more severely than the others.
One officer reportedly threatened Khashayar Safidi: “Wherever you go, I will find you and kill you.” This constitutes a direct death threat and a blatant violation of the right to life and personal security.
In another incident during the transfer, when Abolfazl Ghadiani began bleeding from his forehead due to a blow, lawyer Mohammad Najafi smeared Ghadiani’s blood on his own face and shouted:
“This blood is honour; you have no honour.”
These events amount to serious violations under international law, including the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as the right to health and personal security.
