Increasing Concerns Over Imminent Execution of a Political Prisoner; Kamran Sheikhe Transferred to Solitary Confinement

Human rights organizations reported the transfer of Kamran Sheikhe, a political prisoner sentenced to death, to solitary confinement in Ghezal Hesar Prison in Karaj. This transfer occurred on Thursday, May 17, coinciding with the execution of Khosrow Basharat, another political prisoner, on Wednesday, May 16, after 15 years of imprisonment. In recent months, five political prisoners named Qasem Abasteh, Ayoub Karimi, Davood Abdollahi, Farhad Salimi, and Anvar Khazari have been executed in Iranian prisons. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Kamran Sheikhe's family has not yet been summoned for a final visit. The 39-year-old Maku citizen was arrested on December 7, 2009, by security forces in the city of Maku and transferred to the Urmia Intelligence Detention Center. He was interrogated for eight months on charges of 'moharebeh' (waging war against God) before being moved to Evin Prison. Sheikhe was then interrogated for six months in wards 240 and 209 and was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on April 14, 2012. In late March 2016, he and six co-defendants were sentenced to death by Judge Moghiseh in Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of 'acting against national security', 'propaganda against the regime', 'membership in Salafi groups', and 'corruption on earth'. Although the Supreme Court annulled this ruling in late 2016 and referred it back for retrial, Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati, again sentenced them to death on the charge of 'corruption on earth' in June 2018. In August 2023, after the closure and evacuation of Rajai Shahr Prison, he and six other co-defendants were transferred to Ghezal Hesar Prison. Meanwhile, political prisoner Vrisheh Moradi went on a hunger strike after being transferred to the women's ward of Evin Prison to Ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence on Tuesday. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish women's activist and Moradi's cellmate, also began a hunger strike on Wednesday. Based on the indictment issued by Branch 5 of the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office, a request has been made to apply Articles 288 and 499 of the Islamic Penal Code against these two Kurdish women activists. Pakhshan Azizi, a native of Maku and a graduate of social work from Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in Tehran on August 4, 2023, and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Reports indicate that during her arrest, she was deprived of the right to have a lawyer and was subjected to threats and pressure to make forced confessions by security interrogators. There has been a request for a review by the Supreme Court; Tomaj Salehi's meeting with his family has been conditioned on 'filming'. A statement from UN experts regarding the death sentence of Mahmoud Mehrabi states that these punishments are contrary to international law. Monitoring human rights in Iran indicates that a prisoner is executed every six hours in Iran. A new wave of arrests of Kurdish activists coincides with the anniversary of the execution of Farzad Kamangar and three other political activists. Five prisoners in Iran have been executed for drug-related charges. The judiciary's response to the issuance of a death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi, a political prisoner, states that the ruling is preliminary and subject to appeal.