Human Rights Media Reports Death Sentence for Sunni Cleric Mamosta Mohammad Khodrnejad

Human rights media report that a death sentence has been issued for Mamosta Mohammad Khodrnejad, who was arrested during nationwide protests, on charges of 'corruption on earth'; this Sunni cleric had criticized the government's treatment of protesting citizens. Mamosta Mohammad Khodrnejad, a 45-year-old cleric from Boukan, was violently arrested at his home on November 19, 2022, along with his son Yaser Khodrnejad, during the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protest movement. According to reports from the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Khodrnejad was sentenced to death for 'corruption on earth', 15 years in prison for 'damaging the integrity or independence of the country', and one year of imprisonment for 'propaganda against the regime' by the third branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Reza Najafzadeh. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported, citing a source in Urmia, that 'the court for Mamosta Khodrnejad was held in four short sessions, the last of which was in November this year, via video conference and without the right to a lawyer, and the judge issued the death sentence and 16 years of imprisonment based solely on the report from the Ministry of Intelligence without hearing the defendant's explanations and defenses.' According to this informed source, Khodrnejad was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture for three and a half months in solitary confinement at the Urmia Intelligence Department detention center to extract forced confessions, and a video of his forced confessions was included as evidence in the case. The arrest of Mamosta Mohammad Khodrnejad occurred after a memorial ceremony for As'ad Rahimi, a victim of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protest movement, where he had spoken critically about the government's treatment of protesting citizens at the Otakhari Mosque in Boukan. The special clergy court in Urmia had previously sentenced four Sunni clerics from Piranshahr to a total of 11 years in prison. According to Hengaw, from January 2023 to June 2023, at least 16 Kurdish clerics (Mamosta) have been arrested and tried by government forces.