Iranian court releases details in Kurdish death row case
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The provincial court in Iran’s Kurdistan province has disclosed details of the case against Ramin Hossein Panahi – a Kurd whose execution was temporarily postponed this week after international outcry.
The court said that Panahi was a member of Komala – a Kurdish opposition group Tehran has accused of carrying out terror attacks – and had received military training.
Panahi was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of his arrest, the court stated, according to Tasnim news agency.
The court said that he received a fair trial and confessed to the crime.
The case has drawn international condemnation.
Amnesty International called on Iran to halt his execution, calling the case a “breathtaking miscarriage of justice from start to finish.”
A group of UN officials have also advocated for Panahi – saying he was tortured in prison and did not receive a fair trial.
On Wednesday, Panahi was moved out of solitary confinement and was allowed a family visit, his brother Amjad Hossein Panahi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“His case received a lot of media attention,” the brother explained, saying that campaigns in Iran, Kurdistan, and Europe possibly contributed to the temporary stay of execution.
“We don’t know the exact reason, but as long as the death sentence stands, we will still have nightmares and can’t stay silent,” he added.
A 25-year-old niece of the brothers committed suicide this week – her husband is also in jail on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” He was reportedly charged after inquiring about relatives of his who were jailed, including Ramin Hossein Panahi.
Amjad Hossein Panahi told CHRI that his niece, Nishtiman, had been repeatedly called into the offices of the intelligence and Revolutionary Guards in Sanandaj and told that her husband’s family are “anti-revolutionaries and she should not have married him.”
“They said she should get a divorce and free herself because her husband was going to be in prison for a long time,” he added. The stress of this in addition to her uncle’s death sentence drove her to commit suicide.
Amjad Hossein Panahi said the whole family is being harassed by the authorities.
Komala resumed its armed struggle against Iran in 2015.
The court said that Panahi was a member of Komala – a Kurdish opposition group Tehran has accused of carrying out terror attacks – and had received military training.
Panahi was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of his arrest, the court stated, according to Tasnim news agency.
The court said that he received a fair trial and confessed to the crime.
The case has drawn international condemnation.
Amnesty International called on Iran to halt his execution, calling the case a “breathtaking miscarriage of justice from start to finish.”
A group of UN officials have also advocated for Panahi – saying he was tortured in prison and did not receive a fair trial.
On Wednesday, Panahi was moved out of solitary confinement and was allowed a family visit, his brother Amjad Hossein Panahi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“His case received a lot of media attention,” the brother explained, saying that campaigns in Iran, Kurdistan, and Europe possibly contributed to the temporary stay of execution.
“We don’t know the exact reason, but as long as the death sentence stands, we will still have nightmares and can’t stay silent,” he added.
A 25-year-old niece of the brothers committed suicide this week – her husband is also in jail on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” He was reportedly charged after inquiring about relatives of his who were jailed, including Ramin Hossein Panahi.
Amjad Hossein Panahi told CHRI that his niece, Nishtiman, had been repeatedly called into the offices of the intelligence and Revolutionary Guards in Sanandaj and told that her husband’s family are “anti-revolutionaries and she should not have married him.”
“They said she should get a divorce and free herself because her husband was going to be in prison for a long time,” he added. The stress of this in addition to her uncle’s death sentence drove her to commit suicide.
Amjad Hossein Panahi said the whole family is being harassed by the authorities.
Komala resumed its armed struggle against Iran in 2015.