Three-week visitation ban for political prisoner Mir-Yousef Younesi
6-November-2025
Category: Prisoners
5 November 2025
News category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – Political prisoner Mir-Yousef Younesi has been banned from family visits for three weeks after taking part in a collective action to prevent the transfer of Ehsan Afrashteh for the execution of his death sentence.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Mr Mir-Yousef Younesi, a political prisoner held in Evin Prison and the father of Ali Younesi, Sharif University student and political prisoner, has been deprived of family visitation rights from 26 October 2025 for a period of three weeks.
According to received information, the reason for this punishment was Mr Younesi’s intervention during a collective action by prisoners to stop the forced transfer of Ehsan Afrashteh to solitary confinement for the implementation of his death sentence.
Ehsan Afrashteh, 31, a civil engineer and IT network specialist, had previously—according to published reports—returned to Iran after being lured with false promises of safety by security forces. Upon arrival, he was arrested and, following a judicial process lacking transparency, sentenced to death.
According to reports, on 26 October 2025, prison authorities attempted for the third time to transfer him to solitary confinement to begin the execution process, but this was thwarted by the protest and collective resistance of political prisoners in the ward, particularly the efforts of Mr Mir-Yousef Younesi.
In retaliation, prison authorities have imposed a three-week ban on Mr Younesi’s family visits. This action constitutes a clear violation of Article 39 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which emphasise humane and respectful treatment of detainees.
Mir-Yousef Younesi is a veteran political prisoner and a political activist prior to the 1979 revolution, with a history of arrest in the 80s. He is the father of Ali Younesi, an outstanding student at Sharif University of Technology and a political prisoner.
Mr Younesi was arrested in January 2024 in Shahroud and later transferred to Evin Prison. He was subsequently sentenced by the Tehran Revolutionary Court to five years’ imprisonment on charges related to “propaganda activities against the state” and “collaboration with opposition groups.”
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran expresses concern over retaliatory measures against political prisoners and calls for the immediate lifting of Mr Younesi’s visitation ban, the halting of Ehsan Afrashteh’s death sentence, and full respect for the fundamental rights of all detainees.