Death row prisoner Shorash Morovvati was executed today on charges of “premeditated murder” in Sanandaj Central Prison in Kurdistan Province.
On 1 October 2022, during the prisoners’ protests in Sanandaj prison, Morovvati was tortured by prison guards and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre.
In July, after 10 months of interrogation and torture by the Ministry of Intelligence, he was returned to prison.
On 14 August, Morovvati was transferred to solitary confinement for execution, following increasing pressure on the victim’s family from the intelligence services and Sanandaj and Saqqez prosecutors.
Although the prisoner was transferred to the execution yard once last week, the implementation of the sentence was postponed due to the absence of the victim’s family.
In the early hours of this morning, the execution was carried out after pressure from the Sanandaj and Saqqez prosecutors forced the victim’s family to be present at the prison.
The head of Kurdistan Province’s judiciary confirmed the execution to state media today.
An informed source had previously told the KHRN that: “Shorash Morovvati was transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre by security agencies and the prosecutor of Sanandaj on 1 October last year during the prisoners’ protests in Sanandaj prison, because he had escaped from Saqqez Prison in the past. During this period, he was subjected to severe torture by security interrogators, who informed him that his execution would be carried out in cooperation with the prosecutors of Sanandaj and Saqqez.”
The source highlighted that due to the continuing physical and psychological effects of severe torture by prison guards and security forces, Morovvati remained detained at the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre until mid-July and was denied any contact or interaction with his family.
Morovvati, from Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, was arrested in 2009 on charges of “armed robbery resulting in murder”, which ultimately led to a death sentence.
Despite earlier indications from the victim’s family that they would consider giving their consent in exchange for ‘blood money’, the prosecutors in Sanandaj and Saqqez have stepped up their efforts to enforce the execution.
In spring 2020, during the riots at Saqqez Central Prison, Morovvati managed to escape, but was recaptured by security forces within a few days and then transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison.
Previously, prisoner Hemin Mostafaei, who had also been taken to the Ministry of Intelligence during the Sanandaj prison protests, was executed in Sanandaj on 21 June under pressure from the city prosecutor and the Ministry of Intelligence.
