TWO IRANIAN DISSIDENTS SENTENCED TO DEATH

IAL condemned Iran’s sentencing of Yousef Mehrad and Seyed Sadrollah Fazeli Zare to death on blasphemy charges, calling the accusations politically motivated and emblematic of the regime’s repression. They highlighted the lack of fair trials in Iran and the regime’s history of executing thousands since 1979. IAL urged raising global awareness and support for those silenced by the Islamic Republic.

April 27, 2021

The Iranian Americans for Liberty have learned that a criminal court in the Islamic Republic of Iran has sentenced two Iranian citizens to receive the death penalty. They are currently jailed at Arak prison, located 161 miles from Iran’s capital city Tehran.

Yousef Mehrad, a father of three children, was sentenced to death for alleged charges of blasphemy and insulting Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. In the related case, another inmate, Seyed Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, 34, was sentenced to death for blasphemy. They were arrested by security forces last year, and finally transferred to Arak prison.

In another section of the case, Yousef Mehrad was also accused of "propaganda against the IRI", "blasphemy", and "insulting the founder of the IRI and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei".

Such charges, often without evidence, are a typical tool used by the regime to delegitimize those who are ideologically opposed to the oppressive regime. Fair trials are essentially non-existence in the Iranian judicial system. Furthermore, since the 1979 Revolution, over 8,000 Iranian citizens – mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers – have been executed. Enough is enough! We are raising our voice for those who cannot. Please join us.