Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence for Yousuf Ahmadi, Kurdish Political Prisoner

Hengaw; Thursday, January 25, 2023

The Supreme Court of Iran has upheld the death sentence of Yousuf Ahmadi, a Kurdish political prisoner, marking his fourth year in detention.

According to a report obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the death sentence of Yousuf Ahmadi, a 38-year-old resident of Baneh, has been affirmed by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Yousuf Ahmadi was previously sentenced to death by the first branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj for his alleged "armed insurrection" due to his membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

Along with Ahmadi, three co-defendants in the sane case received collective sentences totaling 65 years, with Mohammad Karimi sentenced to 25 years and Basat Karimi and Mohammad Feizi each receiving 20 years for ‘assistant in insurrection.’

These harsh verdicts, communicated on September 1, 2023, followed accusations of ‘collaboration and membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.’ They were accused by security institutions of "collaboration and membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan."

Throughout their detention, Ahmadi and his co-defendants endured severe physical and psychological torture, facing a lack of access to legal representation. Ahmadi, arrested on April 26, 2020, experienced intense violence during detention and has been denied furlough since his arrest. After an extended period in the denial facility of the Sanandaj intelligence department, he is currently held in Sanandaj’s central prison