The dead body of Eghbal Moradi, a member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Association(KMMK) and the father of Zanyar Moradi’s (a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death) was discovered Yesterday morning at 1:30 by security forces in the Penjwen district at the east of Sulaimani in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

According to the findings of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), he, who has been resident in Iraq’s Kurdistan province since 2007, had been disappeared since 9 am on Tuesday, July 16 after leaving his home in the Penjwen border town. Worried about his safety, the family of this activist referred to the city’s Security Department to find out about his fate and the searches began to find out about his whereabouts.

Eventually, at 1:30 am on Wednesday, July 27, a car was discovered by his family and security forces on an unpaved road next to the AliAawa border crossing while his dead body was found around the river several hours later.

After transferring his body to the Forensic Medicine of Sulaimaniyah, it turned out that he had been shot three bullets but there is no information about the identity of the perpetrators of this assassination.

One of the activists close to (KHRN) has said that Eghbal Moradi had been summoned to Sulaimaniyah’s Central Security Bureau, where he was officially informed about the plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran to assassinate him. He was asked to move to the city of Sulaymaniyah as Panjwin was a border city.

protests against the execution of political prisoners in Iran

According to the source, Mr. Moradi was not going out alone at nights in the past few months after being attacked by intelligence officers in March 2009.

The source added that preliminary investigations of the Kurdistan Regional Security Bureau has been carried out but, due to the sensitivity of this assassination, no official results have been announced to his family yet.

Eghbal Moradi, 57 years old and resident of Paniwin (Kurdistan), was born in Marivan. He was previously detained on charges of membership in the Komala Party for which he spent 5 years in Marivan, Sanandaj and Orumieh prisons. He was in exile at Shahre Reza Esfahan for six years. In 2007 he was forced to leave the country after being pressured by the Iranian authorities.

He became a member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Association(KMMK) in 2010 and was a member of the Kurdistan Human Rights  Association Council’s management for several years. During the past few years, he had played an active role in organising protests against the execution of political prisoners in  Iran.

His son, Zanyar Moradi, along with Loghman Moradi, was arrested in Marivan by security forces on 6 November 2009 and sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran in December 2010 on charges of Moharebeh and killing the son of Marivan’s Imam of Friday Prayer.

Eghbal Moradi had stated to human rights sources that his son, Zanyar, had been arrested and sentenced to death as part of revenge on him.