Aug 27, 2015

Iranian Kurdistan: Rouhani Government Executes Prisoner despite International Calls to Stop


Mr Behrouz Alkhani was executed on Wednesday 26 August. This action has been condemned by Amnesty International, who had called on Tuesday [25 August] for the execution to be suspended, as grossly unjust. Mr Alkhani was killed while awaiting the result of his appeal, having endured torture in prison and a trial that ignored basic judicial procedure, such as his right to access a lawyer.

 

See the full article, published by Bas News, below:

TEHRAN – Behrouz Alkhani, a 30-year-old Kurd has been transferred out of Urmia prison’s general ward, and executed on Wednesday [26 August 2015].

On Tuesday Amnesty International called on Iran to halt his execution

“The Iranian authorities must urgently halt Behrouz Alkhani’s execution. Carrying out a death sentence while a prisoner is awaiting the outcome of his appeal is a serious violation of both Iranian and international law, and is an affront to justice,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

“Behrouz Alkhani faced a grossly unfair trial where basic safeguards such as the right to access a lawyer were ignored. He also says he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated in custody. The authorities must immediately stop this execution and grant him a fair retrial, in proceedings that are in line with international standards, without delay.

“The authorities have already carried out nearly 700 executions in Iran so far this year. Allowing Behrouz Alkhani’s death sentence to be implemented will only leave them with more blood on their hands.”

Behrouz Alkhani was arrested in January 2010 in Salmas, West Azerbaijan, a province in northwest Iran, and held in solitary confinement apparently for more than a year without access to a lawyer or his family.

In 2011, he was convicted by a Revolutionary Court on charges of “effective collaboration with PJAK” (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan), the Iranian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and “enmity against God” (/moharebeh/) for his alleged role in the assassination of the Prosecutor of Khoy, West Azerbaijan province.

 

Photo credit Ondrej Odchazel @Flickr