ANF: New execution approved in Iran

Iran & Execution

ANF, ROJHELAT ─ Iranian High Court has approved the death sentence asked for Kurdish political prisoner Mansur Arwend.

The Kurdish prisoner is at imminent risk of being executed after the Iranian authorities carried out the execution of two other Kurdish political prisoners on 26 October. Some sources claim that 11 prisoners were hanged in Urmiye prison on 29 October.

Arwend who is currently being held in the Urmiye jail in east Kurdistan was arrested two years ago for alleged cooperation with a Kurdish organization in Mahabad.

PJAK (Free Life Party of Kurdistan) member Hebibulla Gulperipur (Habibullah Golparipour) in Urmiye jail and Kurdish political prisoner Reza Ismaili Mamedi in Selmas jail were hanged on 25 October.

Iranian authorities are said to have carried out 20 death sentences over the weekend. The instant increase in the number of executions have raised concerns over the imminent execution of Kurdish political prisoners in Iranian jails.

In a statement published two days ago, Amnesty International warned that two death row prisoners from Iran’s Kurdish minority, Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, are at imminent risk of being executed. Amnesty International called on the Iranian regime to immediately halt the execution of two political prisoners and others on death row.

Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, both death row prisoners from Iran’s Kurdish minority, claim they were tortured into “confessing” to the 2009 murder of the son of a senior cleric in Marivan, Kurdistan province. They were sentenced to death in December 2010 after being convicted of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” for the murder. They were also convicted of participating in armed activities with Komala, a Kurdish opposition group, which conducted armed struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.