Four Kurdish Political Prisoners Sentenced to Death

The news website "Hrana" reported the issuance of death sentences for four members of the Kurdistan "Komala" party named Mohsen Mazloom, Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, and Hojir Faramerzi. According to "Hrana", these individuals were arrested on July 23, 2022, in Urmia by the intelligence organization "FARAJA". The report states that the wife of Mohsen Mazloom, one of the condemned, described the court proceedings as "short and scripted" and wrote on her personal social media page that "the stages of arrest, interrogation, trial, and sentencing occurred in obscurity, secrecy, and rapidly, raising concerns that the execution process may follow the same pattern." According to "Hrana", the "Komala" party issued a statement rejecting the charges against the four detainees and warned about the "scenario-building" by security institutions regarding the detainees. These individuals have been sentenced to death while the first part of their forced confessions was broadcast on domestic television last fall, linking these citizens to "foreign espionage services". The FARAJA intelligence organization stated in a notice that the charges against these individuals were "espionage for a foreign country". In recent years, the Islamic Republic has intensified the issuance and execution of death sentences against its opponents. Issuing death sentences on espionage charges against dual nationals is also another method used by the Islamic Republic to exert pressure on Western countries. One of these cases is that of Ahmadreza Jalali, a Swedish-Iranian physician, whose case has raised concerns from Amnesty International regarding the risk of "retaliatory execution" in response to the sentence issued against Hamid Nouri in Sweden. Hundreds of doctors have requested that the case of Hamid and Farzaneh Ghareh-Hassanlou be examined in a "court free of any suspicion". A football coach in Iran has been sentenced to death for sexually abusing "eight teenage boys". Activists and human rights organizations have warned against the execution of Reza Rasayi and Mojahid Korkor. Amnesty International has called for a halt to the execution of Abdolreza Rasayi. Several labor and professional organizations stated that the government aims to push people back with executions and repression. Judicial officials of the Islamic Republic executed Davood Abdollahi, a Sunni prisoner. Hengaw reported the possibility of Davood Abdollahi's execution taking place at dawn on Tuesday, January 2.