Kurdish Religious Prisoner Kamran Shekha Transferred to Mahabad Prison Amid Imminent Execution Threat

Hengaw: Monday, June 3, 2024
 

Kamran Shekha, a Kurdish religious prisoner sentenced to death, has been transferred from Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj to Mahabad Central Prison. He faces imminent execution, following the execution of six of his co-defendants.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Saturday, June 1, 2024, Kamran Shekha was transferred from Ghezelhesar Prison to Mahabad Central Prison for undisclosed reasons and without prior notice.

The sudden and unannounced transfer has raised serious concerns about the execution of his death sentence and his overall fate.

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, Kamran Shekha was placed in solitary confinement in preparation for his execution but was subsequently returned to the general prison.

Shekha's transfer to Mahabad Central Prison follows the execution of his co-defendant, Khsraw Basharat, in Ghezelhesar Prison on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, during his 15th year of imprisonment.

It should also be noted that on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the death sentence of Anwar Khezri, another defendant in the same case, was carried out in Ghezelhesar Prison without public notification.

Previously, the death sentences of four other defendants in the same case—Davud Abdullahi, Farhad Salimi, Ayoub Karimi, and Qasim Abesteh—were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison.

Khsraw Besharat, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Qasim Abeste, Davoud Abdullahi, Kamran Shekha, and Ayoub Karimi were apprehended on December 7, 2009, by security forces and were subsequently transferred to the intelligence agency detention center in Urmia City.

Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, under the leadership of Judge Moqiseh, handed down the death sentences for these prisoners. The charges against them in the alleged murder case of "Abdul Rahim Tina" included "action against national security," "propaganda against the government," "membership in Salafi groups," and "corruption on earth."

It's noteworthy that the verdict was overturned by the 41st branch of the Iranian Supreme Court, headed by Judge Razini, in 2017. An appeal was made to the 15th branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, where, in June 2017, Kamran Shekha and six other co-defendants were again sentenced to death by Judge Abolqasem Salvati.