Eight Sunni Kurdish Citizens, sentenced to death on charges of assistance and assassination in the deadly attacks of June 07 last year, were executed in secret without the knowledge of lawyers and families.
An informed source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that the family and lawyers of eight prisoners called Solomon Mozafari, Ismail Sufi, Rahman Behruz, Seyyed Majid Mortazai, Cyrus Azizi, Ayub Ismaili, Khosrow Ramezani Mir Ahmadi and Osman Behruz (Rehman’s brother) were waiting for the request for a retrial but the Forensic Medicine contacted them to collect the bodies.
The source stated that it was illegal to execute these prisoners while they were waiting for the decision of Tehran’s Prosecutor’s Office regarding their application for a retrial. He further added that after the verdicts were approved by the Supreme Court, these prisoners had personally handed the request for a retrial to the prison authorities since they were denied access to the lawyers and the authorities of the Evin Prison had referred the prisoner’s request to the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office. Moreover, the prison authorities and the prosecutor’s office prevented Mr. Reza Jafari, a lawyer from the list of 20 lawyers approved by the judiciary, from attending the proceedings and following the case of one of the executed prisoner called Cyrus Azizi. He has been told that he should contact the prosecutor’s office on Sunday to discuss his attendance in the proceedings.
Yesterday, Musa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Courts, told the Tasnim News Agency that the case had been sent to the prosecutor’s office to enforce the execution sentences which will be carried out once permission is granted by the head of the judiciary.
The source said that the families and lawyers of these prisoners had not been informed about the time and place of the execution of the eight prisoners but, given the Kahrizak Forensic Medicine’s call, it seems that the executions have been carried out today.
KHRN had published a detailed report late June about the risk of the execution of these prisoners.
Following the deadly attacks of June 07 last year in Tehran, the aforementioned detainees were sentenced to death by the judge Salavati following seven trials through “unfair” procedures at Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court while the detainees were denied the right to have a lawyer.
After the death sentence was served on these prisoners, attorney at laws of two of these detainees known as Khosrow Ramezani Mirahmadi and Osman Behrooz did not contest the verdict but Soliman Mozafari’s attorney requested the reduction of the punishment. On June 11, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court approved the death sentences of these detainees.
The exact details of these prisoners regarding the charges against them:
First Defendant: Solomon Mozaffari, born in 1963, son of Rahman, a resident of Rawansar
Charges: Baqŷ (Rebellion) + smuggling, carrying and keeping weapons, unauthorised entry to Iran, holding and using a forged document in addition to carrying and storing tear gas.
Second defendant: Ismail Sufi, born in 1983, son of Majid, a resident of Sar-e-Pul Zahab
Charges: Assistance in Efsad-e-fel-arz (Corruption on Earth), carrying and keeping light and heavy weapons and ammunition
Third defendant: Rahman Behruz, son of Karim, from Sar-e-Pul Zahab
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, forging national identity card, buying and carrying and storing several light weapons and ammunition
Fourth defendant: Seyed Majed Mortazai, son of Seyed Hassan, from Paveh, married
Assistance in Corruption on earth
Fifth defendant: Cyrus Azizi, born in 1984, son of Abdul Khaleq, a resident of Paveh
Charges: Baqŷ due to membership in the ISIL Takfiri group
Sixth defendant: Ayoub Esmaeili, born in 1988, son of Hassan, Salas Babajani, married,
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, purchase and transportation of light and heavy weapons and ammunition
Seventh defendant : Khosrow Ramezani Mir Ahmadi, son of Kak Ahmad, born 1975,
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, preparation and maintenance of light and heavy weapons, use of a forged document
Eighth defendant: Osman Behruz, brother of the third row accused and son of Karim Zahab, born in 1988
Assistance in the corruption on earth, charged with the execution, preparation and maintenance of light and semi-heavy weapons, and providing residence for the assassination team
On June 07, 2017, 12 people were killed and 42 others were wounded during a deadly attack on the Iranian parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini. Six attackers were also killed during the attack.
The Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for both incidents by releasing a video.
