Public hangings in Iran, March 2006

IRAN. KURDISH JOURNALIST, ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO DEATH

July 19, 2007: authorities in Iran's northwestern Kurdistan Province have condemned two ethnic Kurds to death for acting against the country's national security. The trial has been accompanied by unconfirmed suggestions in the Iranian media that the two men, journalist Adnan Hassanpur and social activist Hiwa Butimar, were working with banned groups that oppose the government. However, Hassanpur's sister rejected such suggestions in comments to Radio Farda: "I think his only offence is his pen and the articles he has written," she said. The men are currently being held at an unknown locations. Reports say Hassanpur has been in jail since late January. Butimar was reportedly jailed in early January. Iran's heavily Kurdish northwest is the scene of sporadic tensions between locals and the central authorities. (Sources: Radio Free Europe, 19/07/2007)