Kurdish Prisoner of conscience relocated to Solitary Confinement in preparation for execution

Hengaw; Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Qasem Abasteh, a Kurdish prisoner of conscience from Mahabad incarcerated in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, has been transferred to solitary confinement within the same prison for the execution of his death sentence after serving nearly 14 years of imprisonment.

According to reports received by the Hengaw organization for Human Rights, on Sunday, October 29th, 2023, Qasem Abasteh, a Kurdish prisoner of conscience from Mahabad, along with several other prisoners on death row for drug trafficking crimes and homicide, was transferred to solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj by the intelligence forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Karaj.

Qasem Abasteh has been relocated to solitary confinement for execution after serving 13 years and 9 months in prison, and his death sentence is set to be carried out on Monday, November 6, 2023.

Qasem Abeste was apprehended on December 7th, 2009, by security forces and transferred to the detention center of the Urmia Intelligence Office.

He, convicted of second-degree murder of “Abdulrahim Tina”, along with six other Kurdish prisoners of conscience, Davood Abdollahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosraw Basharat, Kamran Sheikheh, and Ayoub Karimi, was sentenced to death on charges such as "threatening national security," "propaganda against the regime," "membership in Salafi groups," and "canonically outlawed" by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided by chief Judge Moghiseh.

The trial for these seven Kurdish religious prisoners took place in late March 2016, and their verdicts were officially issued to them on June 25th, 2016.

It is worth noting that their sentences were upheld by Branch 41 of the Supreme Court in late 2016 and transferred to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran for further action. In June 2018, Qasem Abasteh and six of his co-defendants were once again sentenced to death on charges of "canonically outlawed" by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, with Judge Abolqasem Salavati presiding.

In accordance with the Urmia intelligence office and their persistent pressure on the Supreme Court, eventually their death sentences were approved by the Supreme Court on March 4th, 2020, and their sentences were officially delivered to Mahmood ValiZadeh Tabatabaii, the attorney representing all 7 defendants in this case.

These seven Kurdish religious prisoners, who were held in Gohardasht Prison, were transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on August 1st, 2023, following the evacuation of Gohardasht Prison.

During his nearly 14 years in prison, Qasem Abasteh has developed thyroid cancer and has gone on multiple hunger strikes to protest his verdict.