On the death sentences against young protesters in Iran

Letter to the people of the world

On the death sentences against young protesters in Iran

Thanks to the efforts of millions in Iran and you, the freedom-loving people of the world, the Islamic Republic has postponed the execution of three young men unjustly convicted for participating in the protests of November 2019.

Saeed Tamjidi, Amir Hossein Moradi and Mohammad Rajabi were tortured and prevented from meeting with their legal representatives. Their lawyers were not even allowed to access their clients’ files. Following a massive social-media campaign that included 11 million tweets with the hashtag اعدام_نکنید# (don’t execute), petitions signed by 250,000 people, the widespread international media coverage of these protests, the reaction of some Western governments and the protests that took place in various countries during the past few days, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic finally allowed the lawyers of these three young people to access their clients’ files – that is, after their trial and conviction! The lawyers said in a statement that the execution sentences had been suspended for now and that their cases would be re-examined.

The government’s goal was to execute the protesters so that by creating an atmosphere of intimidation it would prevent the next uprising of the people in Iran, which is expected to be imminent. But this global effort forced the government to retreat. The officials of the Islamic Republic were so terrified of this worldwide, historic action that the government’s spokesman issued a statement saying that the public opinion should be respected! Meanwhile, the judiciary’s spokesman announced that, while the 11 million messages اعدام_نکنید # (don’t execute) were basically the work of robots, the cases will be re-examined!

The government has taken a step back, but its goal is to buy time so that, if it finds the opportunity, to execute the three young men and thousands of other protesters who were arrested in November last year. On 18 July 2020, people in several Iranian cities protested against the current miserable situation, and dozens of people were arrested. The heads of the regime anticipate and publicly acknowledge that the Iranian society is going through a huge social explosion and want to stop it at all costs. While the regime spends billions of dollars every month on religious institutions, nuclear and military installations, its repressive forces and on Islamic terrorist groups in the region, it doesn’t even pay the salaries of workers, which are at a quarter of the poverty line. As a result, the only way for the government to counter the protests is through threats, arrests, torture, lengthy prison sentences and executions. The recent global movement, especially in the current impasse that the regime is facing, showed that we can stop the Islamic Republic and prevent the execution of young people.

We call on all the freedom–loving people of the world to put pressure on international bodies and governments, such as the UN, the EU and the Western governments, to respect the public opinion of the people of Iran and of the world, and to put pressure on the Islamic Republic to end the imprisonment and execution of protesters, while politically boycotting the Islamic Republic and refusing to recognise it. The people of Iran need the solidarity of the people of the world more than ever before.

Worker-communist Party of Iran

21 July 2020