Iranian Supreme Court Upholds the Death Sentence of Kurdish Political Prisoner, Hatem Ozdemir

Hengaw: Monday, September 23, 2024

The death sentence of Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner from the Ağrı Province of Kurdistan of Turkey, imprisoned in Urmia Central Prison, who had previously been sentenced to death for "waging war against the state," has been upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the death sentence of Hatem Ozdemir, 28, from the Ağrı Province of Kurdistan of Turkey, who was sentenced to death in May of this year by Branch 3 of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia headed over by Judge "Najafzadeh" for the charge of "waging war against the state," has recently been upheld by the Supreme Court after his lawyer's appeal.

Hatem Ozdemir was arrested on July 2, 2019, along with a group of members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the border regions of Chaldoran, after being ambushed by forces from the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). During the shooting and shelling in the region, Ozdemir was wounded and knocked unconscious by a mortar blast, after which he was arrested and transferred to the Ramazan Base detention center in Urmia.

This political prisoner, after about 50 days of interrogation and torture at this detention center, was transferred to Urmia Central Prison on August 19, 2019. On March 9, 2022, after 33 months of temporary detention and being deprived of the right to access a lawyer, he was sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Khoy for the charge of "rebellion" and to 5 years of imprisonment for "membership in a terrorist group."

Following an appeal to the verdict, his case was referred to the Supreme Court for review. In March 2023, the death sentence was overturned by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court, presided over by "Qasem Mazinani," and the case was sent back to Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia for reconsideration.

The trial of this Kurdish political prisoner was held on April 23, 2024, in the aforementioned branch, and his death sentence was officially communicated to him in Urmia Prison on May 19.

It should be noted that during this period, despite suffering from kidney stones and the doctors' recommendations for surgery, this political prisoner has been deprived of medical treatment.