The death sentence of Shakir Behrouz, a Kurdish political prisoner, was reversed by the first branch of the Iranian Supreme Court

Hengaw: December 26, 2022

The death sentence of Shakir Behrouz, a Kurdish political prisoner from Urmia, was reversed by the first branch of the Iranian Supreme Court and referred to the parallel branch.

According to the report received by the Hengaw organization for human rights, last week, after acceptance of the appeal of Shakir Behrouz, a Kurdish political prisoner from Urmia, his death sentence was reversed by the first branch of the Iranian Supreme Court and referred to the court of appeals for consideration.

In a part of the decree issued by the Iranian Supreme Court, it is stated that "given that after three months of being a member of the Democratic Party, the named person returned to the country and introduced himself to the Intelligence Department, and this is the reason for his withdrawal from the party. Considering that this person has not been arrested while being armed, he has been acquitted of the charge by the Criminal Court 2, therefore the act committed against the convicted person is not covered by Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code, and the appellant's appeal is against Paragraphs A and P of Article 464 of the Criminal Procedure Law, which are applied and recognized, and according to the provision of Paragraph B of Article 469 of the mentioned law, the judgment issued is reversed and proceedings are referred to the same court."

Shakir Behrouz, from Dezej Margavar, who was a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran for 7 months, returned to Iran after separating from this party and was arrested on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, by the Iranian Intelligence Forces in Urmia. He was transferred to Urmia Central Prison after one year and nine days of detention in the detention center of the Iranian Intelligence Department in Urmia and the completion of the interrogation procedures in the spring of 2019.

Shakir Behrouz was sentenced to death in August 2020 by the second branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia, headed by Judge Sheikhlo, on the charges of "corruption" and "membership in the Komala Party." This sentence was issued on the charge of being a member of the Kamala Party, while Shakir Behrouz was previously a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the same court on the charge of being a member of this party.

The mentioned verdict, issued in July 2021, was reversed by the Iranian Supreme Court and referred to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia for reconsideration.

This political prisoner was also sentenced to death by the first branch of the Special Juvenile Criminal Court in Urmia in January 2019 on the charge of murdering a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was confirmed by the 31st branch of the Iranian Supreme Court in Qom in September 2021.

The mentioned case was closed with the consent of the plaintiff's family, which was registered on Thursday, June 30, 2022, in the court in Urmia, and Shakir Behrouz was returned to the political ward of the prison on the same day that he was transferred to the solitary cell of the central prison in Urmia to execute the death sentence.