Execution of two prisoners of conscience in Arak Central Prison
8-May-2023
Category: executions
May 8, 2023
Newsgroup: Execution –
Breathing in Confinement: Yousef Mehrad and Sadrullah Fazli Zare, two prisoners of conscience who had been sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy and sacrilege, were executed on the morning of Monday, May 8, 2023, in Arak Central Prison.
According to “Breathing in Cofinement”, quoting “Mizan” news agency, at dawn on Monday, May 8, 2023, two prisoners of conscience were executed on charges of “Sab al-Nabi” and “sacrilege”.
Yousef Mehrad and Sadrullah Fazeli Zare, two prisoners of conscience, were arrested in 2020, along with 7 other citizens from different cities on the charge of sacrilege and promoting atheism in the cities of Ardabil and Yasouj .
On May 24, 2020, Youssef Mehrad was arrested by the security forces at his home in Ardabil and finally transferred to Arak prison. He was the father of 3 young children.
Following their arrest, Yousuf Mehrdad and Sadrullah Fazeli Zare were kept in solitary confinement for 2 months and were denied the right to visit or call their families for 8 months.
According to “Mizan”, Yousef Mehrad was sentenced to death for the accusation of “Sab al-Nabi and insulting religion and Islamic sanctities”. In another part of this case, he had been accused of propagandizing against the regime, forming a group, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic and insulting the Supreme Leader.
Sadrullah Fazli Zarei was also sentenced to death for the accusations of “blasphemy, apostasy, offending the Prophet’s (PBUH) mother, disrespect to Qur’an by burning it, and sacrilege.”
Their hearing was held on May 24, 2021 in Branch 1 of the Arak Revolutionary and General Court.
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, during the last two weeks, about 50 prisoners were executed in different prisons in Iran among them the Arab political prisoner Habib Osayvad.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran condemning these criminal executions by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, warns about the human rights situation in Iran and requests all human rights entities to take immediate measures to prevent executions in Iran.