Political Prisoner on Death Row Attempts Suicide in Zahedan Prison

Adham Naroui, a political prisoner facing the death penalty in Iran's Zahedan Prison, attempted suicide on Thursday amid fears of imminent execution. 

According to Haalvash, a news outlet covering the Sistan-Baluchestan province, Naroui was rushed to a local hospital after overdosing on sedatives. He is the latest prisoner to attempt suicide amid Iran's escalating killing spree, last year alone, over 850 Iranians executed. 

Naroui, arrested by security forces in June 2021 in Lashar, and later transferred to Zahedan, was charged along with Mohammad Zeinoddini in October 2020. In 2022, both were convicted of "waging war through armed action" and their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2023. 

They were accused of murdering three members of the Revolutionary Guard during an operation, charges they have repeatedly denied, claiming they played no role in the incident. 

The incident is part of a broader pattern of neglect and abuse in Iranian prisons, which the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) highlights in its annual report saying between March 2023 and March 2024, at least six prisoners died due to illness, twenty committed suicide, and eight were murdered in custody. 

The report details physical torture, denial of medical services, solitary confinement, forced confessions, lack of access to chosen lawyers, and inappropriate detention conditions endured by political prisoners.

Iran has consistently failed to acknowledge responsibility for the deaths and suffering of political prisoners caused by torture, lack of medical care, and other forms of systemic abuse.