Hengaw Issues Warning on Potential Execution of Reza Rasaei
The case of Kurdish political prisoner Reza Rasaei, a Yarsan adherent who was detain
Hengaw: Monday, January 1, 2024
The case of Kurdish political prisoner Reza Rasaei, a Yarsan adherent who was detained during the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi movement has been forwarded to the execution of sentences department of the Kermanshah Criminal Court, raising the imminent risk of his death sentence being carried out.
According to a report obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Sunday, December 31, 2023, Mohammad Rasul Haqnajati, the head of the second branch of the Kermanshah Criminal Court and the judge who issued the death sentence, sent Reza Rasaei's case to the Sentence Execution Department. This action follows the approval of his death sentence by Branch 17 of the Supreme Court just two weeks ago, after over 13 months of imprisonment.
Expressing deep concern, Hengaw calls upon the international community, human rights institutions, and political and civil activists to advocate for Reza Rasaei, urging immediate action to halt the execution of this perceived inhumane sentence.
Hengaw had previously undertaken a legal analysis of Reza Rasaei's verdict, highlighting that the judgment, upon scrutiny, contradicts the prevailing laws and principles of jurisprudence. The verdict exhibits formal flaws that significantly undermine its credibility, failing to resonate with public opinion. Such deficiencies contribute to heightened tensions and disputes, fostering a pervasive sense of insecurity and injustice within society. In line with the arguments presented, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights evaluates the document against established legal and jurisprudential standards, deeming it a customary and non-judicial ruling.
Reza Rasaei, a 34-year-old protester from Kermanshah, had his death sentence recently confirmed by Branch 17 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His family has verified this information with Hengaw.
The initial death sentence, issued by the second branch of the criminal court of Kermanshah province, accused Reza Rasaei of murdering Nader Beyrami, the intelligence chief of the IRGC, in the city of Sahaneh. The killing occurred on November 18, 2022, during the suppression of a rally in Sahaneh commemorating Seyed Khalil Alinzhad.
Notably, the allegations against Reza Rasaei, based on coerced confessions from him and other detainees after months of torture and case fabrication, lack legal substantiation to date.
Reza Rasaei was apprehended on Thursday, November 24, 2022, in the city of Karaj by government forces and subsequently transferred to Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah after interrogation at the IRGC Intelligence detention center.
