The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported today that a group of UN human rights experts have called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to overturn the death sentence of the Kurdish political prisoner Heidar Ghorbani and to grant him retrial as there were serious concerns about the unfairness of his trial.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of Heidar Ghorbani and annul the death sentence against him and grant him a retrial in compliance with their international obligations”, the OHCHR report cited the experts as saying.

In February 2020, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced Ghorbani to death on charges of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) through his alleged membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI).

The experts have expressed concerns about reports that Ghorbani was forced to confess under torture, was denied access to a lawyer at the time of investigation, and that his lawyer was not given full access to his case file during the trial.

“We are seriously concerned that Mr Ghorbani’s eventual confession was forced as a result of torture and ill-treatment”, the experts said.

The experts also called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to commute all death sentences in the country.

Background

In October 2016, Iranian security forces arrested Heidar Ghorbani, a resident of Kamyaran. They interrogated and tortured him for several months in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj to obtain forced confessions.

In March 2018, Iranian state-owned Press TV published the forced confessions.
On 7 October 2019, Branch 1 of the Criminal Court of Sanandaj sentenced Ghorbani to 90 years in prison and 200 lashes.

In February 2020, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced Ghorbani to death on charges of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) through “membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI)”.

On 5 August 2020, Branch 27 of the Supreme Court upheld the ruling and rejected the prisoner’s appeal for a retrial.

Ghorbani’s lawyer, Mr Nikbakht, has denied the accusations against his client and said: “The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj has sentenced Heydar Ghorbani to death on charges of armed rebellion against the state”, said Mr Nikbakht, adding that “The condition for committing the crime of armed rebellion against the state (baghi) is membership in an armed group and the use of weapons against the Islamic Republic [of Iran]. My client has not made any confession in this regard, even in the difficult and painful circumstances he has experienced, and the only evidence to prove this accusation is the claims of the offices of the intelligence ministry in Sanandaj and Kamyaran.”