05 January 2024 :
January 3, 2024 - Reza Rasaei could be executed soon
Kurdish political prisoner arrested during the anti-government uprising of Women Life Freedom
The execution order for Reza Rasaei, a Kurdish political prisoner arrested during the anti-government uprising of Women Life Freedom, was sent to the Enforcement of Judgements Office of the Criminal Court of Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, on 31 December, for implementation.
On 7 October 2023, Branch Two of the Criminal Court in Kermanshah, presided over by Judge Mohammad Rasoul Haghnejati and consultant Amin Mohammadi, sentenced Rasaei, a Yarsani Kurdish man, to death, payment of blood money, one year in prison, and 74 lashes.
The court charged Rasaei with “involvement in intentional murder” of Nader Beyrami, the head of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sahneh, Kermanshah Province, “involvement in the intentional infliction of non-fatal injuries”, “demonstrating strength with a knife” and “disrupting public order by creating chaos and commotion”.
Rasaei was sentenced to death under the Islamic law of qisas, or retribution-in-kind, which gives the victim’s family the right to retaliate.
Notably, the execution of Rasaei’s death sentence is subject to the approval of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as specified in the court order.
The death sentence against Rasaei was officially confirmed by Branch 17 of Iran’s Supreme Court on 16 December.
A source close to Rasaei, speaking to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) on 31 December, said: “The execution order for Reza Rasaei was sent to the Enforcement of Judgments Office of Kermanshah Criminal Court for execution today, two weeks after it was confirmed by Branch 17 of the Supreme Court.”
Rasaei is currently being held in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah and is at imminent risk of execution.
