ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iranian court on Sunday sentenced Mojahed Kourkour from the 2022 nationwide protests to death for the second time for allegedly killing a 9-year-old boy during the protests, allegations denied by the boy’s mother, a human rights watchdog reported.
“Mojahed Kourkour, currently held in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, has had his death sentence reinstated during the third year of his imprisonment. This ruling was upheld by Branch 3 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court following a parallel review process,” the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said.
Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy from Izeh in Khuzestan Province, was shot and killed while he was with his family on November 16, 2022, during the “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Women Life Freedom) protests in Iran sparked by the death of 22-year-old Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in police custody.
“Authorities falsely accused Kourkour of murdering Kian Pirfalak, a young child, and several others during a November 2022 protest in Izeh, despite him allegedly not being at the protest and Pirfalak’s family claiming plainclothes security forces killed him,” the US Commission on International Religious Freedom stated in 2023.
During Pirfalak's funeral, his mother Mahmonir Molaei-Rad publicly stated that "security forces" had fired at their car and emphasized that Kourkour was not responsible for the death of her son.
Negar Kourkour, his sister, shared on social media platforms that “a new death sentence has been issued” for her brother.
the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court in April 2023 sentenced Kourkour to death on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) and “corruption on earth.”
He was shot in the leg and arrested by IRGC forces on December 20, 2022 “in the village of Porsurakh, near Izeh.”
In 2024, Iran has executed over 600 people, more than 120 of them were Kurds, according to Hengaw.
Iran ranks second globally for known executions, according to Amnesty International.
“In 2023, executions soared, with at least 853 people executed across the country, marking a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021,” Amnesty reported in April.
Amini died while in police custody on September 16, 2022 after she was arrested for allegedly wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked Iran’s longest protest movement in the past four decades. The movement grew into an anti-government revolution as the authorities responded with violence. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested.
“Mojahed Kourkour, currently held in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, has had his death sentence reinstated during the third year of his imprisonment. This ruling was upheld by Branch 3 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court following a parallel review process,” the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said.
Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy from Izeh in Khuzestan Province, was shot and killed while he was with his family on November 16, 2022, during the “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Women Life Freedom) protests in Iran sparked by the death of 22-year-old Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in police custody.
“Authorities falsely accused Kourkour of murdering Kian Pirfalak, a young child, and several others during a November 2022 protest in Izeh, despite him allegedly not being at the protest and Pirfalak’s family claiming plainclothes security forces killed him,” the US Commission on International Religious Freedom stated in 2023.
During Pirfalak's funeral, his mother Mahmonir Molaei-Rad publicly stated that "security forces" had fired at their car and emphasized that Kourkour was not responsible for the death of her son.
Negar Kourkour, his sister, shared on social media platforms that “a new death sentence has been issued” for her brother.
the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court in April 2023 sentenced Kourkour to death on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) and “corruption on earth.”
He was shot in the leg and arrested by IRGC forces on December 20, 2022 “in the village of Porsurakh, near Izeh.”
In 2024, Iran has executed over 600 people, more than 120 of them were Kurds, according to Hengaw.
Iran ranks second globally for known executions, according to Amnesty International.
“In 2023, executions soared, with at least 853 people executed across the country, marking a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021,” Amnesty reported in April.
Amini died while in police custody on September 16, 2022 after she was arrested for allegedly wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked Iran’s longest protest movement in the past four decades. The movement grew into an anti-government revolution as the authorities responded with violence. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested.
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