Hengaw Expresses Concern Over Potential Execution of Reza Rasai
Hengaw: Thursday, May 2, 2024
The life of Reza (Gholamreza) Rasai, a Kurdish political prisoner and a Yarsan adherent, who was detained during the "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" (Woman, Life, Freedom) movement, is in serious danger, and his family fears his imminent execution.
According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, given the Islamic Republic's judiciary's non-response to the application of Article 477, which has been registered for several months, the likelihood of executing Reza Rasai, a Kurdish protester, appears increasingly likely.
In this context, the family of the 34-year-old political prisoner states that the risk of his execution in the coming days has greatly increased. Hengaw, expressing their concern, calls on all human rights organizations to make every effort to prevent the execution of this political prisoner.
On Sunday, December 31, 2023, Reza Rasai's case was forwarded by Mohammad Rasool Haqnajati, the head of the Second Branch of the Criminal Court of Kermanshah and the judge who issued the execution order, to the Execution of Sentences Office of the Judiciary of Kermanshah Province.
Reza Rasai's death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran two weeks ago.
He was sentenced to death in early October of the previous year by the Second Branch of the Criminal Court of Kermanshah Province for the murder of Nader Beyrami, head of the Intelligence of the Revolutionary Guards in the city of Sahneh. This verdict was issued under pressure from the judiciary's leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the lack of evidence and documentation proving the crime.
This sentence was based on forced confessions from Reza Rasai and others arrested with him, following months of torture and fabricated charges, and no legal evidence has been presented to date.
Reza Rasai was arrested by government forces on Friday, November 24, 2022, in the city of Karaj, Iran. After interrogation at the detention center of the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Department, he was transferred to Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah.
