In recent days, a prisoner from Mako named Farzandeh Shams has been sentenced to death in public by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh on the charge of Moharebeh [“enmity against God”]. The sentence was issued after six years of judicial struggle. Earlier in late December, two other detainees, Siddiq Shams (Farzandeh’s brother) and Mohammad Darfashi, were sentenced to death in public on the same charge.
A source familiar with the prisoner’s case confirmed the news to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), stating that the prisoner’s trial was held in Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh on January 06, with the presence of her lawyer and the death sentence was served on her the same day.
The trial of the other two detainees jointly charged with the afore-mentioned detainee was held on November 20, in Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Ali Sheikhlou, in the presence of their lawyers. The trial of Farzandeh Shams was postponed to January 6 due to her lawyer illness, the source added. According to the source, the office of the Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh prevented the presence of the designated lawyer of these prisoners from attending the trial. Siddiq Shams is the third son from Shams family facing a death sentence in public on charges of “Moharebeh” through armed robbery per Articles 279, 281, 282, 283, 284 and 285 in the last six years.
Siddiq Shams, Farzandeh Shams, and Mohammad Darfashi were arrested by the Mako Police Criminal Investigation Department in March 2015, and after a month and a half of interrogation, they were transferred to a prison in Mako. The three prisoners, along with another co-defendant named Shahrooz Marvieh, were sentenced to death in the spring of 2017 by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Khoy on the charge of “Moharebeh” without the right to a lawyer. This sentence was annulled after the protest of these prisoners in the spring of 2018 by branch 31 of the Supreme Court which sent the case back to branch two of the Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh. In the summer of 2018, Siddiq Shams, and Mohammad Darfashi were sentenced to death again by the Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh while Shahrooz Marvieh Milan was sentenced to five years in prison. In August 2020, this ruling was again annulled by Branch 31 of the Supreme Court which returned the case back to the branch that issued the verdict. However, the issuing branch upheld its previous verdict again.
These prisoners had been transferred from Mako Prison to Orumiyeh Prison in the past few months to attend a court hearing.
