Execution of Kurdish Religious Prisoner Ayoub Karimi at Ghezel Hesar Prison
Ayoub Karimi, a Kurdish religious prisoner hailing from Mahabad, was execute
Hengaw; Wendesday, November 29, 2023
Ayoub Karimi, a Kurdish religious prisoner hailing from Mahabad, was executed at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj after enduring 14 years of imprisonment. In the preceding month, the death sentence of Qasim Abeste, one of Ayoub Karimi's co-accused, was carried out. Presently, the other five defendants in the case remain incarcerated and face the looming threat of execution.
According to reports received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Ayoub Karimi, a father of two children, was executed on Wendesday, November 29, 2023, at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj.
It is noteworthy that the execution of Ayoub Karimi transpired subsequent to the execution of the death sentence of another religious prisoner, Qasim Abesteh, on Sunday, November 5, 2023, culminating in 13 years and nine months of imprisonment.
In vehemently condemning the execution of Ayoub Karimi, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights asserts that this political prisoner received a death sentence through a judicial process conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran that was wholly non-transparent, unfair, and illegal.
Ayoub Karimi, implicated in the murder case of "Abdul Rahim Tina," alongside Qasim Abeste and five other Kurdish religious activists—Dawood Abdullahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Basharat, and Kamran Sheikha—received a death sentence from Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moqiseh. The charges included "action against national security," "propaganda against the regime," "membership in Salafi groups," and "corruption on earth."
Hengaw recently released a video featuring Ayoub Karimi's 70-year-old mother, beseeching the people and the judiciary system of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the immediate annulment of the death sentence. Earlier, Hengaw had forewarned of the impending execution of Ayoub Karimi and his five co-accused: Dawood Abdullahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Basharat, and Kamran Sheikha.
These individuals were apprehended by security forces on December 7, 2009, and subsequently transported to the intelligence agency's detention center in Urmia City.
The trial for the seven Kurdish religious prisoners took place at the end of March 2015, with the official communication of the sentences occurring on May 25, 2016. It is crucial to note that the initial verdict was overturned by the 41st branch of the Iranian Supreme Court, led by Judge Razini, in 2017. An appeal was then made to the 15th branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. In June 2017, Ayoub Karimi and the six other co-accused received death sentences from Branch 15 of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, headed by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, on charges of "corruption on earth."
Under persistent pressure from the Iranian Intelligence Department in Urmia, the 41st branch of the Iranian Supreme Court reasserted the aforementioned verdict. On Monday, March 4, 2020, Mahmoud Walizadeh Tabatabai, the legal counsel for these seven Kurdish religious prisoners, received the official notification of this decision.
Subsequently, on August 1, 2023, these seven Kurdish religious prisoners were relocated from Gohardasht prison to Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj following the evacuation of the former.
