Continuation of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” Hunger Strike Campaign in Its 119th Week
5-May-2026
Category: Hunger Strike of Political Prisoners
5 May 2026
News category: Hunger strike of political prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: The hunger strike of political prisoners under the campaign “Tuesdays Against Execution” has reached its 119th week across 56 prisons in the country.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, amid the continuing wave of executions and increasing pressure on prisoners, the campaign “Tuesdays Against Execution” has become one of the most sustained forms of protest inside the prisons. This protest reflects the depth of concern and anger regarding the growing trend of issuing and carrying out death sentences. The prisoners’ statement presents a disturbing picture of intensified repression, expansion of executions, and threats to the lives of prisoners, particularly those detained during recent protests. In such a climate, this statement not only recounts events occurring behind prison walls, but also serves as a serious warning to public opinion and international bodies about the urgency of intervention to halt this deadly trend.
Statement of political prisoners:
“The ruling dictatorship in Iran, over the past week, brutally executed 21-year-old political prisoner and karate champion Sasan Azadvar, along with three other prisoners from the January 2026 uprising in Mashhad — Mehdi Rasouli, Mohammadreza Miri, and Ebrahim Dolatabadi — as well as Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, one of the detainees of the 2022 uprising, in Urmia. Additionally, two Kurdish prisoners, Naser Bakrzadeh and Yaghoub Karimpour, were hanged on charges of espionage. Executions are not limited to political prisoners, and in the past week, executions of prisoners with other charges have also increased.
Many prisoners and detainees from recent protests remain at risk of execution, particularly individuals such as Erfan Amiri, Matin Mohammadi, Ehsan Hosseinipour Hesarloo, Maryam Hadavandmiri, Mohammad Abbasi, Saeed Zarei Kordshouli, Hamidreza Fathi, Abdolreza Fathi, Hamidreza Sabet-Ray, and Mohammadreza Tabari, who have recently been sentenced to death. The judiciary has also rejected the retrial request of Peyman Farah-Avar, a political prisoner held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, placing his life in serious danger.
Eje’i, head of the judiciary [under the control of VAJA, SAS, and the National Intelligence Coordination Council], last week attacked opponents of executions and threatened youth and critics of the government with further executions, thereby intensifying the repression of protesting people and, in practice, increasing executions.
In continuation of resistance against these ‘medieval’ death sentences, several activists of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, who last Tuesday chanted slogans such as ‘No to execution’ and ‘Death to the dictator’ during yard time, have been deprived of visits and phone contact.
It is clear to all that policies of repression, imprisonment, and execution cannot prevent the uprising of people against the ruling system, because repression and execution cannot remedy a government that has lost its legitimacy among the people.
We, the members of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign, call upon all awakened consciences, opponents of the death penalty, human rights organisations, and international communities to take immediate and effective action to save the lives of political and non-political prisoners in Iran.”
The “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign, in its 119th week on Tuesday, 5 May 2026, continues its hunger strike across 56 prisons, including:
Evin Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 2, 3, and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Fardis Karaj Prison, Greater Tehran Prison, Qarchak Prison, Khorin Varamin Prison, Choobindar Qazvin Prison, Ahar Prison, Arak Prison, Langarud Qom Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Borujerd Prison, Yasuj Prison, Asadabad Isfahan Prison, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison, Sheiban Ahvaz Prison, Sepidar Ahvaz Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Nezam Shiraz Prison, Adelabad Shiraz Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Firuzabad Fars Prison, Dehdasht Prison, Zahedan Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Behbahan Prison, Bam Prison, Yazd Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Kahnooj Prison, Tabas Prison, Birjand Central Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gorgan Prison, Sabzevar Prison, Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Rudsar Prison, Havigh Talesh Prison, Azbarom Lahijan Prison, Dizelabad Kermanshah Prison, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Miandoab Prison, Mahabad Prison, Bukan Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Sanandaj Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Ilam Prison.
Week 119
5 May 2026