Human Rights Campaign: Execution of Six Sunni Prisoners on Charges of Moharebeh

The International Human Rights Campaign in Iran reported that six Sunni Kurdish prisoners named Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Molaei, Jamshid Dehghani, Jahangir Dehghani, Sadiq Mohammadi, and Hadi Hosseini were executed on Wednesday morning, March 4, in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. Osman Molaei, the brother of Kamal Molaei, told the human rights organization that their families were waiting at the prison entrance for the bodies. He stated, "We arrived at Rajai Shahr Prison at 10 PM from Sanandaj. We met Kamal for a few minutes. He was fine. What can I say? We talked, said goodbye, and came out to wait to see what would happen. An officer came at 5 AM and said it was over. They were executed." According to the International Human Rights Campaign in Iran, the families of these six individuals, who reside in Kurdistan province, were informed by phone to go to the prison for a final visit before the morning of March 4. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nourizad, a journalist critical of the Iranian government, who had been present with the families of these prisoners outside Rajai Shahr Prison, wrote on his website that ambulances had taken the bodies of the six executed Kurdish prisoners from the prison. The execution of these six prisoners comes after Amnesty International previously stated in June that the trials of Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Molaei, Jamshid, and Jahangir Dehghani were contrary to international standards and principles of fair trial. These four prisoners were accused of being involved in an assassination attempt on Mullah Mohammad Sheikh al-Islam, a Sunni cleric. Mullah Mohammad Sheikh al-Islam was a representative of Kurdistan province in the Assembly of Experts who was shot dead on September 17, 2009. Following the assassination of this Assembly member, Iranian officials announced that these four were the perpetrators of the assassination, but Amnesty International emphasized that they were arrested in June and July 2009. Meanwhile, the International Human Rights Campaign reported on Wednesday that these four prisoners were later acquitted of the charge of assassinating Mullah Mohammad Sheikh al-Islam and were sentenced to death on charges of Moharebeh for supporting Kurdish opposition parties in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Moghiseh. Amnesty International in previous reports had mentioned the "torture" and "threats" these four prisoners faced during detention and emphasized that they were deprived of having a lawyer during the trial. A family member of Hamed Ahmadi told the International Human Rights Campaign in June 2014: "Their tortures included flogging, being hung from the ceiling, electric shocks, and severe hunger. During the two years they were in solitary confinement at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office, they only met their families for a few minutes twice, just enough for the families to know they were alive. After being transferred to the general ward, they repeatedly stated that they confessed to their charges under severe torture." Sadiq Mohammadi and Hadi Hosseini, the other executed prisoners on Wednesday, were also arrested in June 2009 and sentenced to death by Judge Moghiseh on charges of "Moharebeh through supporting Salafi groups." These two went on a hunger strike in 2013 but ended it after being informed that their death sentences had been revoked.