Lakan Prison in Rasht; 3 Prisoners Transferred to Solitary Confinement for Execution

HRANA – In recent days, three prisoners in Lakan Prison of Rasht, previously sentenced to death on murder charges, were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for the implementation of their sentences.

Two of the prisoners were transferred on Tuesday, September 9, for the execution of their death sentences, while another death row prisoner was transferred on Sunday, September 7.

Based on information obtained by HRANA, all three had previously been arrested on murder charges and later sentenced to death by the judiciary.

Further details, including the identities of these prisoners, are under investigation by HRANA.

Report on the Arrest and Release of Three Attorneys in Rasht

HRANA – Tahereh Pour-Esmaeili, Mohammadreza Tak, and Masoumeh Pour-Shahrani, three attorneys residing in Rasht who had been arrested by security forces over the past week, have been released from Lakan Prison in Rasht after posting bail.

A source close to the families of these citizens told HRANA: “Tahereh Pour-Esmaeili, Mohammadreza Tak, and Masoumeh Pourshahrani were arrested by security forces last week  and transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht.”

The source added: “Ms. Pour-Esmaeili and Ms. Pour-Shahraniare facing charges of blasphemy and insulting the Supreme Leader, and have also been threatened with the revocation of their law licenses, fabrication of cases, and sexual harassment. Mr. Tak’s arrest was linked to his role as defense attorney in security-related cases. Although bail had been set for them, the prosecutor handling their cases initially refused to accept it. Ultimately, in recent days, the three attorneys were released on bail. The bail amount for Ms. Pour-Esmaeili was set at 2 billion tomans, and for Ms. Pour-Shahrani at 500 million tomans.”

At least 13 attorneys in Gilan Province have recently faced judicial and security pressures, including summonses and arrests.

Tahereh Pour-Esmaeili, Mohammadreza Tak, and Masoumeh Pour-Shahrani are licensed attorneys residing in Rasht. Mr. Tak has previously faced security-related harassment.

Crackdown on Gilan Lawyers: 3 Arrested, 10 Summoned

HRANA – In recent days, at least 13 defense lawyers in Gilan Province have been subjected to judicial and security measures, including summonses and arrests. Among them, Shahrzad Sharbiyani, Shadi Falahati, and Hesam Pourahmadi have been arrested and remain in an uncertain situation.

According to information obtained by HRANA, Hesam Pourahmadi and Shahrzad Sharbiyani are currently held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, while the whereabouts of Shadi Falahati remain unknown. HRANA had previously reported on the arrests of these individuals.

The newspaper Etemad has also reported that more than ten other lawyers in Gilan Province have been summoned to judicial and security bodies. According to this report, charges such as “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion against the country” have been brought against them. However, Etemad did not provide the names of the summoned lawyers or specify the authorities that issued the summonses.

Several lawyers, including Parto Borhanpour and Saleh Noghrehkar, have publicly condemned these measures against their colleagues and called for an immediate end to such actions.

Attorney Shahrzad Sharabiyani Arrested in Rasht

HRANA News Agency – Shahrzad Sharabiyani, an attorney residing in Rasht, has been arrested by security agents and transferred to Lakan Prison in the city.

Based on information received by HRANA, her arrest took place on Sunday, August 31, by security agents in Rasht. Following her arrest, she was transferred to Lakan Prison.

The charge brought against her has been cited as “propaganda against the regime.”

Shahrzad Sharabiyani is a licensed attorney and a resident of Rasht.

Attorney Hesam Pourahmadi Held in Solitary Confinement

HRANA – Attorney Hesam Pourahmadi has been held by security forces for a week and remains in solitary confinement at Lakan Prison in Rasht without due process.

Based on information obtained by HRANA, Mr. Pourahmadi was arrested by security forces a week ago and is currently held in solitary confinement in the “Misagh” ward of Lakan Prison in Rasht.

A source close to this attorney confirmed the news to HRANA, stating: “After Hesam Pourahmadi was arrested, his Instagram account was inspected by agents. The agents then claimed that in private messages to several people, he had expressed critical views against the regime, and they considered this the reason for his arrest.”

Hesam Pourahmadi is a member of the Gilan Bar Association.

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Women’s Rights Advocate Tina Deljoo Sentenced to One Year in Prison

HRANA– Tina Deljoo, a women’s rights activist, has been sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 3 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court.

This verdict was issued on Wednesday, August 20, by Branch 3 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court and was recently communicated to the women’s rights activist. Based on the ruling, Ms. Deljoo has been sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of propaganda against the regime.

No details are available regarding the specific acts cited in this case, which was opened against her in the winter of last year.

On January, 2025, Tina Deljoo was arrested and transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht to serve a previously issued seven-month prison sentence in connection with an earlier case. She was released in mid-August of this year after completing that sentence.

Tina Deljoo, a civil activist and women’s rights defender, resides in Gilan. She has previously faced arrest and imprisonment for her activism.

Writers Nina Golestani and Rozita Rajai Sentenced to Prison

HRANA – Nina Golestani and Rozita Rajai, two fiction writers from Rasht, have each been sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of the city.

According to Hyrcani, the two writers were previously tried by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht on charges of “propaganda against the regime on social media.” The court has now sentenced each of them to one year in prison.

Another joint case against the two remains under judicial review. Charges in that case include “spreading falsehoods, appearing in public without hijab, publishing images and content deemed contrary to public morality, and disclosing preliminary investigations of the prosecutor’s office.”

Rozita Rajai was released on bail from Lakan Prison in Rasht on August 3, 2025, after being arrested on July 19 following a prosecutor’s office interrogation.

Nina Golestani was released on bail from Lakan Prison on March 16, 2025. She had been arrested on March 11, 2025, in Rasht by IRGC intelligence agents and transferred to the same facility.

Both writers have previously faced judicial convictions in relation to their activities.

Two Prisoners Executed in Lakan Prison, Rasht

HRANA– At dawn today, the death sentences of two prisoners who had previously been convicted in separate cases on charges related to drug offenses and murder were carried out in Lakan Prison, Rasht.

HRANA has identified the prisoners executed at dawn on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, as Farshad Hamegan, 52, a resident of Lavandevil, Astara, and Hossein Mokhtari.

According to information obtained by HRANA, Mr. Mokhtari had previously been arrested on charges related to drug offenses and later sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

Mr. Hamgan had earlier been arrested on charges of murder and sentenced to death by the Criminal Court.

As of the time of this report, the executions have not been officially announced by prison authorities or responsible institutions.

In 2024, according to 812 reports compiled by HRANA, the Iranian regime executed 930 individuals in its prisons—marking the highest number of executions in the past 12 years. Despite the scale of these executions, prison officials and other relevant authorities publicly acknowledged only 6% of them, highlighting the regime’s lack of transparency and accountability.

Sunni Prisoner Hamzeh Darvish Continues Hunger Strike

HRANA – Hamzeh Darvish, a Sunni prisoner held in Lakan Prison, Rasht, remains on hunger strike. He began his strike on August 2 in protest against authorities’ neglect of his demands.

Three days ago, a source close to his family confirmed the news to HRANA, saying: “Mr. Darvish is currently on the fourteenth day of his hunger strike.”

This Sunni prisoner went on strike on Saturday, August 2, in protest against what he describes as his continued unjust imprisonment, psychological and physical torture, the violation of the principle of separation of crimes, and the authorities’ disregard of his previous requests. He has demanded transfer to the political prisoners’ ward in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj.

In December 2024, Darvish wrote a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, urging attention to his case. Following this action, he was held in solitary confinement with handcuffs and shackles for one month by order of Gilan’s Prosecutor, Mehdi Fallah Miri.

Hamzeh Darvish, a prisoner from Talesh, was previously sentenced to 14 years in prison, later reduced to 10 years and 6 months in August 2024 after he submitted to the court’s ruling. He had already served another long-term prison sentence before this case.

Additionally, following a prison altercation on October 9, 2022, and a complaint filed by the Prisons Organization, a new legal case was opened against him. On May 11, 2020, this Sunni prisoner was transferred from Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj to Lakan Prison in Rasht.

Darvish’s journey through adversity began in 2014 when he was deceived by ISIS forces into traveling to Turkey and later to Syria, as he claims. Following a period of confinement in an ISIS jail, he managed to escape and returned to Iran, where he surrendered himself to security forces.

Death Sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi Upheld by the Supreme Court

HRANA News Agency – Amir Raisian, attorney at law, announced that the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, has been upheld by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court.

Confirming the news, Mohammadi’s lawyer stated: “Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, which had previously overturned the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, this time—despite all persisting ambiguities and flaws in the case—upheld the ruling.”

According to Raisian, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had earlier annulled the sentence due to numerous deficiencies, including the lack of evidence connecting her to armed operations, the failure to prove her membership in an organization classified under Baghi (armed rebellion) or a rebel group, as well as flaws in the intelligence agents’ report. The case had then been referred to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, but that court “treated the judicial officer’s report as conclusive evidence” and reissued the death sentence.

The lawyer stressed that the ruling of Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht merely repeated the earlier decision of Branch 1, without addressing the Supreme Court’s objections, relying solely on the intelligence report. Raisian added: “It was expected that the Supreme Court would once again overturn the ruling, but contrary to expectations, it did not.”

Reaffirming his client’s legal prospects, Raisian said: “We are still hopeful for retrial. We will continue to pursue a request for retrial and try to annul the death sentence of this prisoner through other legal avenues.” He expressed hope that given the numerous flaws in the case and the judicial process, the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi would be overturned and its enforcement stopped.

In late December of last year, the trial of Sharifeh Mohammadi’s charges was held in Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht. Prior to that, after the Supreme Court’s Branch 39 had overturned her death sentence, the case had been referred back to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht for retrial.

Mohammadi was sentenced to death on July 4, 2023, on charges of baghi (armed rebellion) due to her alleged membership in an opposition group. This sentence against the female labor activist triggered widespread public outcry.

Her trial, held on June 8, 2023, revolved around multiple charges, including propaganda against the regime, actions against national security, and baghi through her supposed affiliation with the group.

Mohammadi was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence at her home in Rasht on December 5, 2023. Later that month, she was transferred from Lakan Prison to Sanandaj Prison on December 30, only to be sent back to Lakan after some time.

A source close to her family told HRANA: “Sharifeh was a member of the Association of Labor Organizations until 2013, which has no ties to the Komala group. The charge of baghi is based on her alleged membership in this group, which is not true.”