ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran has reportedly transferred a Kurd scheduled to be hanged on Thursday out of solitary confinement, an indication of a possible stay of execution.
Ramin Hossein Panahi was wounded and arrested on June 22, 2017 in Sanandaj for alleged membership in Komala, a Kurdish opposition party. Accused of taking up arms against the state, he was sentenced to death in January 2018.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran tweeted Wednesday evening that Panahi had been “moved out of solitary confinement in Sanandaj Prison to a public ward, indicating his death sentence COULD BE suspended.”
The case drew international attention when Amnesty International called on Iran to halt Panahi’s execution.
“Ramin Hossein Panahi’s case has been a breathtaking miscarriage of justice from start to finish. After appearing at his trial reportedly bearing torture marks on his body he was convicted in less than an hour,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the MENA region, on Tuesday.
Luther explains Panahi was denied access to his lawyer, family, and the details of the evidence against him throughout the investigation.
In a “complete mockery of the judicial process,” Panahi was offered to confess online in return for his death sentence to be revoked.
“We urge the Iranian authorities not to compound this shocking catalogue of human rights violations by proceeding with what is the ultimate and irreversible denial of human rights,” Luther implored Iranian authorities.
This urging by the Amnesty came amid reports by the France-based Kurdistan Human Rights as it was told by Panahi’s family members that he had been transferred to solitary confinement, scheduled to be hung on May 5.
He was held in solidarity confinement for several months. His health has deteriorated in prison and he is suffering from kidney failure and amnesia. He has been denied medical treatment and was subjected to torture, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Multiple sources have reported that Nishtiman Hussein Panahi, a niece of Ramin Hussein Panahi, has committed suicide due to her husband’s, Ahmed Ammen Panah, imprisonment and her uncle’s death sentence.
Panahi was held in solidarity confinement for several months. His health has deteriorated in prison and he is suffering from kidney failure and amnesia. He has been denied medical treatment and was subjected to torture, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Kurdish men are among the biggest victim of Iran’s capital punishment as large numbers are annually hung with cranes in the public area. Iran carries out the second-most capital punishment executions in the world, behind China.
Ramin Hossein Panahi was wounded and arrested on June 22, 2017 in Sanandaj for alleged membership in Komala, a Kurdish opposition party. Accused of taking up arms against the state, he was sentenced to death in January 2018.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran tweeted Wednesday evening that Panahi had been “moved out of solitary confinement in Sanandaj Prison to a public ward, indicating his death sentence COULD BE suspended.”
The case drew international attention when Amnesty International called on Iran to halt Panahi’s execution.
“Ramin Hossein Panahi’s case has been a breathtaking miscarriage of justice from start to finish. After appearing at his trial reportedly bearing torture marks on his body he was convicted in less than an hour,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the MENA region, on Tuesday.
Luther explains Panahi was denied access to his lawyer, family, and the details of the evidence against him throughout the investigation.
In a “complete mockery of the judicial process,” Panahi was offered to confess online in return for his death sentence to be revoked.
“We urge the Iranian authorities not to compound this shocking catalogue of human rights violations by proceeding with what is the ultimate and irreversible denial of human rights,” Luther implored Iranian authorities.
This urging by the Amnesty came amid reports by the France-based Kurdistan Human Rights as it was told by Panahi’s family members that he had been transferred to solitary confinement, scheduled to be hung on May 5.
He was held in solidarity confinement for several months. His health has deteriorated in prison and he is suffering from kidney failure and amnesia. He has been denied medical treatment and was subjected to torture, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Multiple sources have reported that Nishtiman Hussein Panahi, a niece of Ramin Hussein Panahi, has committed suicide due to her husband’s, Ahmed Ammen Panah, imprisonment and her uncle’s death sentence.
Panahi was held in solidarity confinement for several months. His health has deteriorated in prison and he is suffering from kidney failure and amnesia. He has been denied medical treatment and was subjected to torture, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Kurdish men are among the biggest victim of Iran’s capital punishment as large numbers are annually hung with cranes in the public area. Iran carries out the second-most capital punishment executions in the world, behind China.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment