Iran’s judiciary refutes claims of sentencing Oshnavieh protestors to death
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Judiciary chief of Iran’s West Azerbaijan province on Wednesday refuted claims that six protestors from Oshanvieh had been sentenced to death.
“In Oshanvieh, no one has been sentenced to death in association with the riots,” Nasser Atabati said, adding that Farhad and Farzad Tahazadeh, who had been arrested in association to the nationwide protests are yet to be tried.
The statement from Atabati comes after several rights groups and local sources earlier this week claimed that six people arrested in Oshnavieh in association with the protests had been sentenced to death in Urmia Revolutionary Court.
Among those who had allegedly been sentenced to death were brothers Farhad and Farzad Tahazadeh, which rumors that they would be executed on Wednesday morning had flooded the internet.
In a video footage on Tuesday night, the two brothers’ mother pled to the internet to save her sons.
“For the love of God get to the aid of my sons, they are both innocent,” she said. “They have been sentenced without a trial without any evidence, they have been tortured, my sons are young and their children are awaiting them.”
Local media in Iran reported that the two brothers had been accused of “muharaba”, a term which means “waging war against God” under Islamic Sharia law, and their family were told not to try visiting them as there is nothing they could do against such accusations.
The brothers were among dozens arrested amid a crackdown on protestors in September which also led to the killing of five protestors.
The lawyer of another death row detainee, Mahan Sadrat, on Wednesday said that their client’s death sentence had been suspended and he had escaped, however the public relations department of Iran’s top court refuted such claims, saying that the sentence had been suspended temporarily until the court makes a final decision.
Sadrat was arrested in Tehran in October. Iran’s judiciary sentenced him to death on the grounds of being in possession of a knife during the protests, burning the motorcycle of a security forces member, and intentionally wounding them.
However on Sunday, one of the security forces who had raised the lawsuit against him said that he had forgiven him.
Another detained protestor on death row is Mohammad Mahdi Karami, who is a Kurd from Iran’s Kurdistan province.
Karami was arrested by Iranian security forces during the protests marking the 40th day since the killing of protester Hadis Najafi. Accused of being involved in the killing of a member of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, Karami was sentenced to death for “muharaba” and threatening the country’s national security.
Karami’s father has claimed that the court had not accepted their choice of lawyer for their son, and has instead assigned a lawyer that does not even respond to their calls.
“I am hopeless, I have given up, my child is innocent, and he is an athlete not a murderer, they have told him about the sentence and they might execute him any moment,” Mashallah Karami, Mahdi’s father told Iran’s reformist newspaper Itimad.
Following his death sentence, Mahdi had called his father and asked him to not inform his mother.
Iran carried out the second known execution linked to the protests on Monday. Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged from a construction crane, serving as a gruesome example to other protesters.
Amnesty International on Monday identified 20 people who stand the risk of being executed, 11 of which have been handed death sentences by Iranian courts, in connection to the protests.
Last week, Mohsen Shekari was hanged in the first execution over the protests that have swept through the country since the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in September.
At least 493 protesters have been killed since the protests began almost three months ago, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
“In Oshanvieh, no one has been sentenced to death in association with the riots,” Nasser Atabati said, adding that Farhad and Farzad Tahazadeh, who had been arrested in association to the nationwide protests are yet to be tried.
The statement from Atabati comes after several rights groups and local sources earlier this week claimed that six people arrested in Oshnavieh in association with the protests had been sentenced to death in Urmia Revolutionary Court.
Among those who had allegedly been sentenced to death were brothers Farhad and Farzad Tahazadeh, which rumors that they would be executed on Wednesday morning had flooded the internet.
In a video footage on Tuesday night, the two brothers’ mother pled to the internet to save her sons.
“For the love of God get to the aid of my sons, they are both innocent,” she said. “They have been sentenced without a trial without any evidence, they have been tortured, my sons are young and their children are awaiting them.”
Local media in Iran reported that the two brothers had been accused of “muharaba”, a term which means “waging war against God” under Islamic Sharia law, and their family were told not to try visiting them as there is nothing they could do against such accusations.
The brothers were among dozens arrested amid a crackdown on protestors in September which also led to the killing of five protestors.
The lawyer of another death row detainee, Mahan Sadrat, on Wednesday said that their client’s death sentence had been suspended and he had escaped, however the public relations department of Iran’s top court refuted such claims, saying that the sentence had been suspended temporarily until the court makes a final decision.
Sadrat was arrested in Tehran in October. Iran’s judiciary sentenced him to death on the grounds of being in possession of a knife during the protests, burning the motorcycle of a security forces member, and intentionally wounding them.
However on Sunday, one of the security forces who had raised the lawsuit against him said that he had forgiven him.
Another detained protestor on death row is Mohammad Mahdi Karami, who is a Kurd from Iran’s Kurdistan province.
Karami was arrested by Iranian security forces during the protests marking the 40th day since the killing of protester Hadis Najafi. Accused of being involved in the killing of a member of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, Karami was sentenced to death for “muharaba” and threatening the country’s national security.
Karami’s father has claimed that the court had not accepted their choice of lawyer for their son, and has instead assigned a lawyer that does not even respond to their calls.
“I am hopeless, I have given up, my child is innocent, and he is an athlete not a murderer, they have told him about the sentence and they might execute him any moment,” Mashallah Karami, Mahdi’s father told Iran’s reformist newspaper Itimad.
Following his death sentence, Mahdi had called his father and asked him to not inform his mother.
Iran carried out the second known execution linked to the protests on Monday. Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged from a construction crane, serving as a gruesome example to other protesters.
Amnesty International on Monday identified 20 people who stand the risk of being executed, 11 of which have been handed death sentences by Iranian courts, in connection to the protests.
Last week, Mohsen Shekari was hanged in the first execution over the protests that have swept through the country since the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in September.
At least 493 protesters have been killed since the protests began almost three months ago, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).