Report on the latest status of Kurdish political prisoner, Yousef Ahmadi, sentenced to death in Sanandaj Central Prison
Hengaw: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Yousef Ahmadi, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death and imprisoned in Sanandaj Central Prison, has now been in custody for 4 years, 6 months, and 23 days. During this period, he has been denied the right to temporary release. Multiple charges, including a death sentence, have been brought against him based on coerced confessions obtained under torture, threats, and fabricated cases.
According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Yousef Ahmadi, a 39-year-old Kurdish political prisoner from Baneh, has spent the last 1,700 days detained at the Intelligence detention center and Sanandaj Central Prison without being granted any leave. It should be noted that during the first year of his detention, Ahmadi was denied the right to meet with his family. He was also deprived of access to a lawyer and medical care for an extended period.
In September 2023, he was sentenced to death by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “armed rebellion” through alleged membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. This sentence was upheld in late 2023 by the 39th Branch of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
On Sunday, April 26, 2020, Yousef Ahmadi was violently arrested through the use of excessive force and transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison after enduring a prolonged period of detention at the Intelligence Agency’s detention center in Sanandaj. For a full year, he was denied the right to meet with his family.
It is noteworthy that this political prisoner sustained injuries during detention. Prior to the arrest, he had suffered a fractured arm and was under the care of a neurologist and psychiatrist. Despite being diagnosed with epilepsy, he was deprived of essential medical care throughout his detention at the Intelligence Detention Center in Sanandaj.
According to Hengaw's sources, the charges against Yousef Ahmadi were entirely fabricated during interrogations involving severe physical and psychological torture. Security forces threatened him with sexual violence against his relatives to extract false confessions. During these brutal interrogations, Ahmadi sustained multiple fractured vertebrae and was repeatedly beaten with electric cables, causing him to lose consciousness multiple times. In some cases, other prisoners were incentivized with promises of release to falsely accuse Ahmadi.
Three co-defendants in Ahmadi’s case—Mohammad Karimi, sentenced to 25 years for “aiding in armed rebellion,” and Baset Karimi and Mohammad Faizi, each sentenced to 20 years—received a total of 65 years in prison. These heavy sentences were formally communicated to them on September 3, 2023.
It should be emphasized that all four prisoners were denied access to basic rights, including legal representation, during their detention and were subjected to severe physical and psychological torture.
