Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali (Persian: علیرضا شیرمحمدعلی) was an Iranian political prisoner at the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary (Fashafoyeh Prison).[1] Ali was killed while in prison by the prisoners that were housed in general population on 10 June 2019.[2]
Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali was arrested after massive anti-government protests in 2018. He was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of “blasphemy, insulting the former and current leader, and propaganda against the regime”.[1] In March 2018, he went on a month-long hunger strike with another prisoner, Barzan Mohammadi, protesting terrible conditions and heavy restrictions at the Tehran Central Penitentiary.[3][4]
On 10 June 2019, Shir Mohammad Ali was “attacked by two non-political prisoners and stabbed in the neck and stomach and died before arriving at the hospital.”[5][6][7]
Human Rights Watch called for an urgent investigation by Iran's judicial authorities to determine whether the role of a lack of oversight or neglect by Fashafoyeh Prison authorities contributed to the murder of Shir Mohammad Ali.[8]
On 13 June 2019, Amnesty International responded to the murder of Shir Mohammad Ali, a prisoner of conscience, and called on Iranian authorities to identify any state failings that contributed to his death and to remedy them.