Pouya Ghobadi, 31, a resident of Sounghour, Kermanshah province, holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering as well as qualifications in music and arts.
In May 2018, Mr. Ghobadi was first arrested during his military service on charges of “assembly and collusion, acting against national security, and supporting the Mojahedin Organization.” He was transferred to Tehran’s Intelligence Agency and then moved to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. During his detention, he was deprived of visitation rights and was only allowed weekly phone calls. After two months, he was released on bail but was re-arrested on February 22, 2019, at his home.
Following three months of no contact, his family finally learned of his whereabouts on May 28, 2019, when he and his friend, Vahid Bani Amerian, were allowed a visit. Both had been arrested simultaneously.
In January 2020, Mr. Ghobadi was transferred to Greater Tehran Central Prison. After 18 months of detention, a court presided over by Judges Amouzadeh and Moghiseh issued sentences: Pouya Ghobadi and Vahid Bani Amerian were each sentenced to 10 years in prison and 2 years of exile in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
On October 16, 2022, Vahid Bani Amerian informed his mother in a phone call that “Evin Prison is on fire, and the guards are shooting at us with live ammunition. All the prisoners have fled outside; we’re suffocating from the smoke. Some prisoners have been locked in, and tear gas has been used. Pouya is missing, and I don’t know what has happened to him. Please help us.”
After 24 hours with no news, Pouya Ghobadi contacted his family, stating they had been held in a cell with their hands and feet tied since the previous night and were being transferred to Rajaei Shahr Prison.
Both prisoners were eventually pardoned after serving four years in prison but were exiled to Sistan and Balochestan province.
Vahid Bani Amerian was re-arrested on unknown charges. Meanwhile, Pouya Ghobadi was detained again on February 21, 2024, while attempting to leave the country illegally near Chaldoran.
Following a week in solitary confinement and three months in Ward 209 under psychological torture, a trial was held on October 6, 2024, for six individuals arrested in various locations and charged with “assembly and collusion against the regime, membership in armed opposition groups, and other charges.” They were sentenced to imprisonment, exile, and execution.
These sentences were approved by Judge Eiman Afshari in Branch 26. The verdicts were based on the judge’s interpretation, interrogators’ reports, and coerced confessions extracted during solitary confinement in Ward 209, rather than any proven crime.
Pouya Ghobadi’s only alleged crime is attempting to leave the country illegally. His lawyers, Babak Paknia and Mostafa Nili, have appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court.
It is important to note that these prisoners face a serious risk of execution. The Hana Human Rights Organization has expressed deep concern about their situation and calls on all human rights organizations and institutions to intervene to save their lives and prevent the Islamic Republic’s machinery of execution from claiming the lives of two more political prisoners.
Hana Human Rights Organization
January 10, 2025