Masoumeh Ebtekar: Death Sentences for 6 Environmentalists Have Been Halted

The head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization stated that, following the organization's efforts over the past year and a half, the execution orders for six environmentalists have been halted. Masoumeh Ebtekar said on Tuesday, April 31, to Mehr News Agency: "When I entered this organization, the death sentences for eight environmentalists had been finalized, but currently, the execution orders for six of them have been stopped." However, she did not mention the names of these six environmentalists, as she indicated that "making this news public could have repercussions on the handling of the cases," and therefore, details cannot be disclosed. One of the latest cases related to the environmentalists is the annulment of the qisas (retribution) sentence for Gholamhossein Khaledi by the Supreme Court, which was reported in early Esfand. Mr. Khaledi killed one of the illegal hunters in Dena National Park in 2010 during a confrontation, which led to his death sentence. Nevertheless, environmentalist groups have consistently protested against death sentences for environmentalists, prompting the Environmental Protection Organization of Iran to work towards overturning these sentences. According to Masoumeh Ebtekar, "The judiciary has a very good cooperation with the Environmental Organization in pursuing and addressing the legal aspects of the environmentalists' cases." She also assured that "families and environmental supporters should be hopeful and confident that the Environmental Organization is seriously pursuing the cessation of the qisas sentences for the environmentalists who are in prison." The head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization finally stated that currently, only the death sentences for two environmentalists are finalized, and it is hoped that these two sentences will also be halted in 1394 (2015). The names of these two environmentalists were not mentioned in the Mehr News Agency report. Previously, Gholamhossein Khaledi's lawyer considered the annulment of his death sentence a "great achievement" for Iranian environmentalists. The Supreme Court has annulled Mr. Khaledi's death sentence three times so far.