5 Iranian Prisoners Disappear After They Secretly Film an Execution
Five prisoners at the Iranian regime’s notorious Raja’i Shahr
(Gohardasht) Prison were seized by security guards, during a violent raid on
Hall 14 of Ward 4, and taken to unknown locations.
The raid, which involved members of the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards Corps (IRGC), took place on Saturday, after a video circulated on social
media, which showed prison officials after the execution of five prisoners at
the prison in Karaj, near Tehran.
While the whereabouts of the five prisoners who were taken away by
the security forces is unknown, it is feared that they are now at risk of
execution themselves.
Iran Human Rights Monitor, a human rights group focused on Iran, has
released the names of four of those death row prisoners: Samad Farhadi,
Sadegh Hafezi, Mohammad Chahargoushe and Ali Bagheri.
The video was recorded on Wednesday, August 7, following the
executions of Majid Arabali, Mohammad Reza Shekari, Hossein Panjeh-Maryam and
Yousef Zakeri in Raja’i Shahr Prison.
It appears that the following people were personally present at
the execution:
Bagheri and Mohammadi, who can be seen in the footage wearing
camouflage military uniforms, carried out the execution.
Before the execution, the guards had taken several other death row
prisoners to solitary confinement, along with those who were executed, which
meant the several prisoners spent the night thinking they would be executed
before being transferred back to their cells. A common intimidation practice by
the regime.
Following the execution, a refrigerator truck was brought to the
area to transfer the dead bodies.
Bagheri and Mohammadi, who can be seen in the footage wearing
camouflage military uniforms, carried out the execution.
Before the execution, the guards had taken several other death row
prisoners to solitary confinement, along with those who were executed, which
meant the several prisoners spent the night thinking they would be executed
before being transferred back to their cells. A common intimidation practice by
the regime.
Following the execution, a refrigerator truck was brought to the
area to transfer the dead bodies.