Permanent Link to Report by KHRN on Mansour Arvand, a Kurdish political prisoner hanged in Iran

Mensur Arwend

Kurdish political prisoner Mansour Arvand was hanged in Miandoab (Miyanduaw) prison on 27 May.

Intelligence and judiciary officials were present at the scene of his execution.

However, his family members and lawyer were not informed of the date and time of his execution.

“Mansour’s sentence was carried out strangely”, a Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) source said, “He was hanged by a crane instead of normal procedures and using the gallows.”

The source said: “His family members had tried to find him on several occasions, but prison officials expressed unawareness of his execution.”

The source added: “In the morning of 15 June his family members were officially informed by the prison officers that his death penalty had been implemented.”

Mansour Arvand, 39, was arrested on 14 June 2010 in the city of Mehabad.

He was transferred to the detention facilities of Mehabad prison and later to a prison Ûrmiye.

He was transferred back to Mahabad after his interrogation ended.

Judge Javadikia of the Mehabad Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death on charges of “collaboration with a Kurdish outlawed party [Kurdistan Democratic Party .]”

On 13 September 13 2012 he was officially informed of his death penalty.

The verdict was reconfirmed by Azerbaijan Gharbi appeal court without making any review, although reviewing the sentence has been promised earlier.

He was transferred back to Ûrmiye, this time to the Ûrmiye Central Prison.

A source told KHRN on condition of anonymity that prison officials told him his death sentence had been revoked, although his name remained in the list of death row prisoners

On 29 November 2014 Mansour met his family relatives in Ûrmiye Central Prison while he and another 28 Kurdish political prisoners of ward 12 of the prison were on ninth day of a hunger strike.

On the same day, he was transferred back to Mehabad prison.

As the protests erupted in Mehabad in the past few weeks, he was transferred to solitary confinement in Miandoab prison on 10 May 2015.

During this time he was not allowed to receive any family visit or contact anyone.

His family tried to get information regarding his whereabouts and his prison conditions, but their efforts had been unsuccessful and they were not able to meet him prior to his execution by hanging on a crane.

 

Kurdistan Human Rights Network ─ KHRN