Kurdish political prisoner Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh executed in secret after 16 years in prison
Hengaw – Saturday, October 4, 2025
The Iranian authorities carried out the secret execution of Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh, a 34-year-old Kurdish political prisoner from Sanandaj (Sine), at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj after 16 years of imprisonment. Hengaw had issued a warning just hours before about the imminent risk of his execution.
According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the execution was carried out at dawn on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at Ghezel Hesar Prison. The authorities denied Mohammadi Khiyareh a final visit with his family, and the execution took place without prior notice.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights strongly condemns this inhumane act and stresses that the secret execution of political prisoners after years of torture and unfair trials represents a grave violation of international human rights and due process standards. Hengaw once again urges international human rights mechanisms and the United Nations to take immediate and effective measures to end the use of the death penalty in Iran.
On Friday evening, October 3, Hengaw reported that Mohammadi Khiyareh had been transferred to solitary confinement, warning of the imminent danger to his life and the possibility of his execution.
Earlier reports from Hengaw showed that the Iranian judiciary had rejected a request for retrial and suspension of the sentence in his case.
Mohammadi Khiyareh, who was only 19 years old at the time of his arrest, had been denied furlough throughout his 16 years of detention. During his imprisonment, he was subjected to severe torture and forced under duress to make self-incriminating confessions. He was accused of involvement in the killing of Khalifeh Ebrahim Farhadi in Qorveh, as well as the killing of a security officer in Sanandaj during the 2009 “Green Movement” protests.
State-controlled media previously claimed that several individuals accused of killing two police officers, Molla Borhan (temporary Friday Imam of Sanandaj), and Mohammad Sheikholeslam, the city’s representative in the Assembly of Experts, as well as the abduction and murder of Khalifeh Ebrahim Farhadi in Qorveh, had received death sentences.
Sixteen years ago, Saman Mohammadi was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and later sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, on charges of “Waging war against God (moharebeh)” and “membership in armed groups linked to foreign intelligence services.”
According to a reliable source, he was repeatedly tortured throughout his detention and forced to confess under torture to the alleged killings attributed to him during the 2009 Green Movement protests.
