Urmia Central Prison: Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou, Kurdish Political Prisoner and Victim of Fabricated Charges, Secretly Executed

Hengaw: Monday, April 21, 2025

The death sentence of Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou, a Kurdish political prisoner from Chaldoran, was carried out in secrecy at Urmia Central Prison in the third year of his detention, following an extended period of case fabrication. During his imprisonment, he was subjected to torture and denied access to legal counsel or visitation.

According to reports received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, at dawn on Sunday, April 20, 2025, the death sentence of 40-year-old political prisoner Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydaranlou—father of three—was carried out at Urmia Central Prison.

The political prisoner had been transferred to solitary confinement on Wednesday, April 16, in preparation for execution. However, due to a sit-in protest by his family, the sentence was not immediately carried out, and he was temporarily transferred to the Intelligence Department. That afternoon, Hamid briefly contacted his family by phone in Persian.

A reliable source at Urmia Central Prison told Hengaw that Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou was returned from the Intelligence Department’s detention center to solitary confinement on Saturday, and the execution was carried out the next day, Sunday, without notifying his family. The state-affiliated Rokna news agency confirmed the execution but did not specify the date.

Hengaw strongly condemns the covert execution of Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou, asserting that he was a victim of fabricated charges and forced confessions by Iranian security agencies, and was sentenced to death through a completely opaque legal process.

The execution took place just days after he handed over documents to his family during a visit, which he claimed proved both his innocence and the violations of his legal rights during trial proceedings. He was also planning to send them audio files in the coming days, but he was swiftly moved to solitary confinement and denied the opportunity.

Furthermore, entry and exit stamps in Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou's passport indicate that he was in Turkey on the day of the alleged armed clash referenced by Iranian security and judicial authorities.

According to the passport stamps, he left Iran via the Bazargan border crossing on November 3, 2017—the same date the alleged armed confrontation inside Iran is said to have occurred.

Despite this, under severe torture, he was coerced into confessing to participation in an armed attack against Iran’s border guards and the killing of at least eight of them.

Ultimately, under pressure from the Intelligence Ministry, the court claimed that Hamid carried out the operation as an act of revenge for the killing of his brother-in-law, Mostafa Nouri, who was shot by state forces in 2015 while working as a Kolbar.

In mid-July 2024, Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou was sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of baghi (armed rebellion) through alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The conviction was based solely on “the judge’s knowledge,” with no substantial evidence, and followed a trial lasting only a few minutes.

The sentence was later upheld by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court and formally communicated to him on March 26, 2025, at Urmia Central Prison.

Previously, Hengaw reported that, according to informed sources, the political prisoner was denied access to a defense attorney throughout the entirety of his detention and even during court proceedings.

Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heidaranlou spent 11 months and 10 days under physical and psychological pressure in the Intelligence Department’s detention center in Urmia. He was deprived of basic rights, including visitation, and allowed only two phone calls.

He was subjected to intense torture and forced to confess to participating in armed action against border forces and the killing of at least eight guards.

He was arrested on Thursday, April 13, 2023, near the Chaldoran border by government border forces, along with several Afghan nationals. Initially detained at a local intelligence facility, his request for bail was denied due to a warrant issued by the Ministry of Intelligence, and he was subsequently transferred to the Intelligence Department’s detention center in Urmia.

In early February 2025, he was moved to Ward 2 (Admissions Section) of Urmia Central Prison, where he remained until his execution.