Execution Threat Looms Over Young Defendants in Isfahan House Case
The threat of execution threatens the lives of young defendants accused in the Isfahan House case.
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi are young men who were present at the Khaneh Esfahan guardhouse square during protests on November 16, 2022, in which two members of the Basij force and one law enforcement officer named Esmail Charaghi, Mohsen Hamidi, and Mohammad Karimi were killed.
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi are among those arrested during these protests who were charged with “waging war by carrying weapons, forming and managing a group to destabilize national and social security and conspiracy.” They have been sentenced to death by Morteza Barati, head of the first branch of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court.
Forced confessions extracted from the three accused in the Isfahan House case have put them in serious danger of execution. However, audio files previously released on social media indicated the innocence of these three individuals and showed that regime forces were responsible for the deaths of the Basij members and law enforcement officer. Furthermore, audio files released from prison by the accused revealed that confessions were made under torture.
In reports disclosed from the Isfahan House case, there is no evidence or documentation to prove the charges against the three accused.
According to the Dadban Legal Consultation and Training Center, which recently received a copy of the verdict issued by the primary court and the Supreme Court of the Country regarding the Isfahan House case, the documents show apparent contradictions and defects in the case and testify to the falseness of the charges against the detained protesters.
Additionally, CCTV cameras in the Isfahan House area show that the three individuals were not present when the security force members were killed and appeared in the location more than an hour after the incident occurred. However, government media outlets are now broadcasting videos of forced confessions by Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi, and Saleh Mirhashemi, seeking to lay groundwork for carrying out the death sentences of these three men.
As previously mentioned, the confessions of these three men were extracted under severe torture and threats of arresting their families. Prince Reza Pahlavi also responded to the execution threat facing these three men by posting their photos on his personal Instagram page, writing: “The lives of Saeed Yaqoubi, Saleh Mirhashemi, and Majid Kazemi are in immediate danger. At this moment when the families of these three imprisoned protesters are gathered in front of Evin Prison in Isfahan, I call on my compatriots in Isfahan and nearby cities to join them. Let us not allow the youth-slaying Zahhak and his agents to take more innocent lives and make more mothers bereaved.”
