A/HRC/25/61 though, the Protestants in Iran have no political ambitions or aims to overthrow the current Government or the Islamic Republic. Jahanghir Esmailpour Author / former political activist He left Iran in 1996. He was first arrested in 1979 because of trade union activities, and then was arrested again in 1980 on charges of passing out brochures for the fedayeen. It was still early after the Revolution, and the Islamic Republic “had not yet consolidated.” He was asked to pledge not to continue his activities, but he refused, and spent six months in jail. In the winter of 1982, he was arrested a third time and spent six years in prison. He was released around the time of the mass executions of 1988. His trial lasted minutes. He mistakenly believed that things would get better after his trial; that he would go to prison and that the mistreatment would stop, but this was not the case. He notes that at the time there was a cycle in Iran; interrogators would torture confessions out of prisoners, then when prisoners would deny them in court, they would be sent back for interrogation. In a way, he says, they would not consider the case closed until a confession was obtained and confirmed. Regarding the 1988 executions: Word had spread amongst prisoners that the MEK had crossed into Iran. A fatwa from the Supreme Leader around that time proclaimed that all affiliated would have to be punished for this, but they did not believe the order would be carried out. In fact, authorities began to make statements implying that prisoners would soon be released. However, the executions did begin. They began with repeat offender prisoners, who they seemed to believe “couldn’t be reformed.” Some individuals were transferred to Revolutionary Guard centers, from where they never returned. Others were executed in prisons, including at Adel Abad prison in Shiraz, where Mr. Esmailpour was at the time (cell number 10, first floor). Over the course of about six months, authorities purged the prisons of almost all MEK members. He recalls the few people who did return from such scenes reporting having been questioned about their loyalties and whether or not they were willing to die for the MEK. In prison, the administrator announced over the loudspeaker that “now, it will be the leftists’ turn.” He was transferred along with two others leftist to a Detention Center and was kept in solitary confinement. One of the others was taken away at night, so they assumed he had been executed. Then, Mr. Esmailpour was taken away. Two guards played “good cop, bad cop.” He thought he was going to be executed, that they were preparing the ground for his execution. At one point, he asked them why they were doing this to him, and they responded, “because you are forming political groups in the prison.” He was not executed this time, however, but returned to his cell. He believes he was saved in that particular instance because of pressure that had been applied regarding his case by Amnesty International (friends who had been concerned over his case had contacted the organization). He spent 2.5 months at this center, during which he was taken for 10 interrogations, and mostly lectured about the virtues of Islam vs. socialism. He was then returned to his cell at Adel Abad. At this point, he realized that he would likely not be killed. In all, 250 or 270 people from just his prison were executed, mostly members of the MEK, during that period. In the end, only a few non-MEK leftists were actually executed. Before he was released in 81