Kurdish religious prisoner Kamran Shekha transferred to Mahabad prison due to imminent execution threat

Hengaw: Monday June 3, 2024

Kamran Shekha, a Kurdish religious prisoner sentenced to death, was transferred from Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj to Mahabad Central Prison. He faces imminent execution, after that of six of his co-defendants.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Saturday, June 1, 2024, Kamran Shekha was transferred from Ghezelhesar Prison to Mahabad Central Prison for undisclosed reasons and without prior notice.

This sudden and unexpected transfer raised serious concerns about the execution of his death sentence and his general fate.

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, Kamran Shekha was placed in solitary confinement in preparation for his execution, but was later returned to the General Prison.

Shekha's transfer to Mahabad Central Prison follows the execution of her co-accused, Khsraw Basharat, at Ghezelhesar Prison on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, during his 15th year of imprisonment.

Also note that on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the death sentence of Anwar Khezri, another accused in the same case, was carried out at Ghezelhesar Prison without public notification.

Previously, the death sentences of four other defendants in the same case – Davud Abdullahi, Farhad Salimi, Ayoub Karimi and Qasim Abesteh – were carried out in Ghezelhesar prison.

Khsraw Besharat, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Qasim Abeste, Davoud Abdullahi, Kamran Shekha and Ayoub Karimi were arrested on December 7, 2009 by security forces and were subsequently transferred to the intelligence services detention center in the city of Urmia.

The 28th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, under the leadership of Judge Moqiseh, imposed the death sentence on these prisoners. The charges against them in the case of the alleged murder of “Abdul Rahim Tina” included “action against national security”, “propaganda against the government”, “membership of Salafist groups” and “corruption on earth”.

It is worth noting that the verdict was overturned by the 41st branch of the Iranian Supreme Court, headed by Justice Razini, in 2017. An appeal was filed with the 15th branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, where, in June 2017, Kamran Shekha and six other co-defendants were again sentenced to death by Judge Abolqasem Salvati.