Feb 22, 2006

Ahwazi Brothers in Iran Facing Execution


Mehdi Nawaser, 21, (left) and Abdolreza Nawaser, 31, (right) are facing execution by hanging. The two brothers, convicted of "waging war against Allah", were sentenced to death in relation to recent bombings in Ahwaz City
Iran Focus (20 Feb): Yesterday, according to Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Justice Minister Jamal Karim-Rad had still dismissed suggestions that seven Ahwazi Arabs accused by the regime of masterminding bomb attacks in Ahwaz will face the death penalty.

Karim-Rad claimed that "the foreign media had fabricated news that the persons convicted of the bombings in Ahvaz had received the death sentence," according to IRNA. However, on Monday State Prosecutor General Ghorban-Ali Dori-Najafabadi was quoted by the hard-line Mehr News Agency stating: "Some of the convicted in this case have received execution verdict, including the two main culprits, whose presence in the recent Ahvaz incidents was proved and their execution verdict is definitive."

However, other sources confirm the news, explaining the apparent confusion as resulting from the refusal by official Iranian sources to reveal the identity of the persons convicted:

British Ahwazi Friendship Society (21 Feb): Two Ahwazi Arab brothers are convicted of "waging war against Allah" and will be sentenced to death in relation to recent bombings in Ahwaz City. Their execution will come after a long period of incarceration and torture by the Iranian regime and a trial by a religious kangaroo court.

Mehdi Nawaser, 21, (left) and Abdolreza Nawaser, 31, (right) are facing execution by hanging, either in the prison where they are being held or in a public square. Mehdi was arrested in November before the Eid-al-Fitr anti-government demonstrations. Following his conviction he reportedly told the court that he refused to accept the ruling of a non-indigenous, non-Arab, discredited and undemocratic regime.

The Nawaser brothers cases are not thought to be related to the six sons of Ahwazi Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi, who are all facing execution for "waging war against Allah".

 

Links:

Iran Focus

British Ahwazi Friendship Society 1

British Ahwazi Friendship Society 2