Kurdish Political Prisoners Houshmand Alipour and Mohammad Ostadghader were sentenced to death and five years of imprisonment respectively on the charge of ‘taking up arms against the state,” their attorney Ali Sakeni told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
The trial of the Kurdish political prisoners was held at the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj on 23 October and their preliminary verdict was served on them on 29 December.
Houshmand Alipour from Sardasht and Mohammad Ostadghader from Saqqez were arrested by the security forces around Saqqez on 3 August 2018, and were subsequently transferred to the Sanandaj Intelligence Bureau. After 108 days of interrogation, the two were transferred to Saqqez Prison before being transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison in January 2019.
The lawyer added that once an indictment was filed against his clients, their dossier was sent to the branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on the charge of “rebellion through membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).” The preliminary rulings were issued in accordance with Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code, which deals with the punishment of “rebellious” charges.
Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code defines “corrupt on earth” as follows:
Any person, who extensively commits felony against the bodily entity of people, offences against internal or international security of the state, spreading lies, disruption of the economic system of the state, arson and destruction of properties, distribution of poisonous and bacterial and dangerous materials, and establishment of, or aiding and abetting in, places of corruption and prostitution, [on a scale] that causes severe disruption in the public order of the state and insecurity, or causes harsh damage to the bodily entity of people or public or private properties, or causes distribution of corruption and prostitution on a large scale, shall be considered as mofsed-e-fel-arz [corrupt on earth] and shall be sentenced to death.
“We will contest the death sentence of Alipour in the coming days and we will appeal against the imprisonment sentence of Mohammad Ostad Qadir,” Ali Sakeni added.
Amnesty International released a statement in August last year saying that Alipour and Ostadghader, two Kurdish political prisoners in Iran, had been detained by security forces on 3 August and were denied any contacts with the outside prison for weeks. Their forced “confession” was aired on Iran’s state TV on 7 August 2018, depriving them of access to a lawyer of their choice and limited contact with their families.
