Pouya Ghobadi Bistooni

Imminent Risk to the Life of Political Prisoner Pouya Ghobadi Bistooni

Pouya Ghobadi Bistooni, born in 1992 in Sonqor, Kermanshah, is an electrical engineer and graduate of Sanandaj University who has been sentenced to death for his political activities against the Islamic Republic.

Raised in a politically active family, Pouya became known during his university years for organizing sessions critical of the government. Since 2018, he has been arrested multiple times; his most recent arrest took place on February 23, 2024, in Chaldoran, after which he was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. There, he endured severe torture, including beatings, sleep deprivation, threats against his family, and broken ribs.

He was accused of “rebellion (baghi),” “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran,” and “assembly and collusion.” In a closed trial in 2024, without legal representation, he was sentenced to death.

On August 7, 2025, Pouya, along with four other political prisoners, was transferred to an unknown location. After ten days without contact or information, reports indicate that all five are currently being held in quarantine at Ghezel Hesar Prison, where their lives are in imminent danger.

Human rights organizations are urgently calling for immediate international action to save the lives of Pouya Ghobadi and the other detained political prisoners.