Campaign supporting people facing execution spreads in Iran
In Iran, opposition activists are spreading the Last Breath campaign on social media to draw international attention to people facing execution after the January protests. Since the beginning of the year, more than 950 people have been executed in the country, including at least 29 detainees connected to the protests, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Names and stories of prisoners
Campaign participants are publishing photographs, names and personal stories of prisoners, urging politicians, journalists and human rights organizations to demand action. One of the first posts named, among others, Ehsan Hosseinipour, Matin Mohammadi, Erfan Amiri, Hamidreza Fathi, Abdolreza Fathi, Saeid Zarei Kordshouli, Peyman Ganji, Erfan Khalili and Ali-Akbar Makhlouji as people who, activists claim, face the implementation of death sentences.
Posts using the Last Breath hashtag have already appeared not only in Persian but also in English, French and German. Dawn has become one of the campaign's central images: in their appeals, activists stress that executions in Iranian prisons are often carried out in the morning or at dawn.
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The cases of Sepahi, Nagdi and Rahimi
Among the people featured by the campaign is Alireza Sepahi, who was detained after a protest on January 8 at Alihani Square in Isfahan and sentenced to death along with other defendants. Five of his co-defendants have already been executed. According to Iran Human Rights, Sepahi suffered a heart attack shortly before a planned public execution, after which he was taken to hospital and later returned to prison. On September 12, the organization reported that Sepahi had been transferred to solitary confinement in Isfahan Central Prison, which, in its assessment, places him under an immediate threat of execution.
The campaign also tells the story of 26-year-old kickboxer and mixed martial arts fighter Benyamin Nagdi. Iran Human Rights said in June that he was detained on January 3 during a protest in Shiraz and sentenced to death on a charge of “corruption on earth.” The organization also stated that Iranian state media aired a recording it described as a forced confession the day after his detention.
Separately, activists are sharing the story of 20-year-old Tarane Rahimi, who was sentenced to death after being arrested at protests in Isfahan. Her twin sister, Romina, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to reports based on family testimony, both women were subjected to ill-treatment while in custody.
