In a move that reveals the clerical regime’s profound fear of organized opposition, the Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence for Ehsan Faridi, a 22-year-old university student. The verdict, based on fabricated charges and extracted confessions, is a desperate effort by the regime to control a restive society that desires change.
Ehsan Faridi’s case is a stark example of the regime’s all-out war on the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), demonstrating its terror of a restive society and the growing influence of the organized Resistance among Iran’s youth. His life now hangs in the balance, a symbol of the regime’s brutal campaign to crush dissent by eliminating its most courageous voices.
A manufactured capital crime
The judicial process against Ehsan Faridi exposes a calculated effort to eliminate a political opponent. Initially arrested on the lesser charge of “propaganda against the system,” he was temporarily released on bail. However, this was merely a prelude to a more sinister plot.
Just 40 days later, he was summoned again and re-arrested, at which point his charge was deliberately escalated to the capital offense of “corruption on earth,” a made-up crime that the regime uses to eliminate its opponents. This drastic change, confirmed by Faridi’s lawyer Sina Yousefi, transformed his case from a political matter into a fight for his life. The escalation is clear evidence of a predetermined political decision, proving that the regime was not seeking justice but manufacturing a crime worthy of death to make an example of a young PMOI supporter.
A sham trial built on coerced confessions
The verdict against Ehsan Faridi has no legal legitimacy and is built entirely on the foundations of torture and coercion. According to a statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), “The basis for this criminal verdict consisted solely of reports from interrogators and torturers of the Ministry of Intelligence.”
In brief phone calls to his family, Ehsan revealed he was subjected to immense psychological pressure, threats, and intimidation aimed at forcing him to make false confessions. His trial was a complete sham; his defense lawyer was denied full and effective access to the case file, rendering a fair defense impossible. This is the regime’s standard procedure for silencing political prisoners.
The real motive: terrorizing a nation, targeting the PMOI
Ehsan Faridi’s true “crime” was his support for the PMOI, a basis that the regime has used to execute countless other prisoners. The theocracy routinely wields the vague charge of “corruption on earth” as a weapon to execute its most dedicated and determined opponents.
By sentencing a 22-year-old student to death for his political beliefs, the regime is sending a desperate message of terror. This brutal act is a preemptive strike aimed at intimidating Iran’s youth from joining the organized Resistance, which the regime correctly identifies as the primary driver of past and future uprisings. Such a cruel sentence against one young man reveals not strength, but the profound weakness and paranoia of a regime terrified of the revolutionary potential simmering just beneath the surface of Iranian society.
Faridi’s case is also not isolated. He is one of 17 political prisoners who are under the imminent threat of execution for their support of the PMOI. The death sentence of another prisoner, Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, was also upheld by the regime’s judiciary last week. In June, the regime executed PMOI members Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani.
An urgent call for international action to save political prisoners
The international community cannot remain a silent bystander while the Iranian regime uses its execution machine to systematically eliminate dissent. Inaction will only be interpreted by Tehran as a green light to spill more innocent blood. The Iranian Resistance urgently calls on the United Nations, the European Union, and all defenders of human rights to take immediate and concrete action to save the life of Ehsan Faridi and other political prisoners on death row. On the eve of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the world must send a clear message. As the NCRI stated, “it is time for the regime of executions and terror to be condemned and isolated by the international community, and for its bloodstained leaders to be brought to justice.”