Eight Sunni religious citizens, who were sentenced to death on charges of assistance and assassination in the deadly attacks of June 07 last year in Tehran, are at risk of imminent execution after the Supreme Court upheld the original verdict.

Source: Mizan News

These individuals were arrested following the deadly attacks of June 07 last year on the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Mausoleum, in which 17 people were killed and over 40 were wounded. After this incident, dozens of Kurdish citizens were arrested on charges of cooperating with “extremist religious groups” in various Iranian cities. Eight of the detainees were sentenced to death in May this year. These eight detainees have been identified as Soleiman Mozafari, Ismail Sufi, Rahman Behrooz, Seyyed Majid Mortazai, Cyrus Azizi, Ayoub Esmaeili, Khosrow Ramezani Mir Ahmadi and Osman Behruz (Rehman’s brother).

A well infromed source, who did not want to be identified for security reasons told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that “Following the deadly attacks of June 07 last year in Tehran, these aforementioned defendants were sentenced to death by judge Salavati of Branch 15 of Tehran following seven trials through “unfair” procedures at, without the right to have a lawyer.”

The source added that, after the death sentence was issued to these prisoners, attorneys at law of two of the convicted people known as Khosrow Ramezani Mirahmadi and Osman Behrooz, did not contest the verdict but Soleiman Mozafari’s attorney requested the reduction of the punishment. In such circumstances, on June 11, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court approved the death sentences of these individuals.

Regarding the method and time of the detentions, the source added that most of the detainees were family members and acquaintances of the attackers, given that the attackers were in different cities of Kermanshah province. The Security forces in Paveh, Sarpol-e Zahab and Rawansar attested Seven of these citizens; Soleiman Mozafari, on May 10, Ismail Sufi on June 09, Rahman Behrooz on May 07, Seyyed Majid Mortazai on June 21, Ayoub Esmaeili on June 10, Khosrow Ramezani on June 16, and Osman Behruz, June 23.

According to this source, there are uncertainties in the cases of these people. For example, one of those citizens sentenced to death, named Cyrus Azizi, who was a student of one of the attackers, referred to the intelligence office of Paveh on June 13, 2017, after being summoned, and was arrested later. Also in the indictment read out by the prosecutor’s representative at the first hearing, it has been announced that he did not play any role in the attack on Ayatollah Khomeini’s shrine and the Islamic Consultative Assembly but he was sentenced to death due to supporting ISIL and he was charged with “Baqŷ (Rebellion)”.

Source: Mizan News

“All eight convicted individuals were interrogated at the Kermanshah Intelligence Bureau detention centre on June 22, 2017, and were later transferred to Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. On July 01, they were transferred to Tehran’s Revolutionary Tribunal, Dizel Abad Prison of Kermanshah, at Tehran’s Evin Prison, Section 209, in Tehran’s Revolutionary Courts. Their trial on April 28, 2018, of this year was held at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in the presence of the families of a number of those killed.”, the source continued.

According to the source, these defendants were denied the right to have any contact with their families for three months. After that time, meeting with families was possible only with the presence of security interrogators.

According to the Mizan News website, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran has published a selection of 7 court hearings of these individuals, in which a large part of the defendants’ defence has been eliminated. the incident, dozens of Kurdish citizens were arrested on charges of cooperating with “extremist religious groups” in various Iranian cities. Of these, eight people were sentenced to death in May this year, eight peop

le named Soleiman Mozafari, Ismail Sufi, Rahman Behrooz, Seyyed Majid Mortazai, Cyrus Azizi, Ayoub Esmaeili, Khosrow Ramezani Mir Ahmadi and Osman Behruz (Rehman’s brother).

It should be noted that the date of the arrest of Cyrus Azizi, the defendant in the fifth row of the case, who is also a member of the martyr’s Islamic Foundation’s family and personally referred to the intelligence office on June 13, 2017, was announced on July 01 2017.

The source, concerned about the risk of the execution of these prisoners, added that the attorneys of the defendants did not request a retrial, and the appointment of lawyers to the Tehran Revolutionary Tribunal No. 15 had already been ineffective. Such a trend has raised concern about the imminent execution of these prisoners.

The exact details of these prisoners regarding the charges against them:

First Defendant: Soleiman Mozaffari, born in 1963, son of Rahman, a resident of Rawansar
Charges: Baqŷ (Rebellion) + smuggling and carrying and keeping weapons, unauthorised entry to Iran, transportation and use of a forged document and carrying and storing tear gas.

Second defendant: Ismail Sufi, born in 1983, son of Majid, a resident of Sar-e-Pul Zahab
Charges: Assistance in Efsad-e-fel-arz (Corruption on Earth), carrying and keeping light and heavy weapons and ammunition

Third defendant: Rahman Behruz, son of Karim, from Sar-e-Pul Zahab
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, forging national identity card, buying and carrying and storing several light weapons and ammunition

Fourth defendant: Seyed Majed Mortazai, son of Seyed Hassan, from Paveh, married Assistance in Corruption on earth

Fifth defendant: Cyrus Azizi, born in 1984, son of Abdul Khaleq, a resident of Paveh Charges: Baqŷ due to membership in the ISIL Takfiri group

Sixth defendant: Ayoub Esmaeili, born in 1988, son of Hassan, Salas Babajani, married,
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, purchase and transportation of light and heavy weapons and ammunition

Seventh defendant : Khosrow Ramezani Mir Ahmadi, son of Kak Ahmad, born 1975,
Charges: Assistance in Corruption on Earth, Execution, preparation and maintenance of light and heavy weapons, use of a forged document

Eighth defendant: Osman Behruz, brother of the third row accused and son of Karim Zahab, born in 1988 Assistance in the corruption on earth, charged with the execution, preparation and maintenance of light and semi-heavy weapons, and the assassination team

On June 07, 2017, 12 people were killed and 42 were wounded during a deadly attack on the Iranian parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini. Six attackers were also killed during the attack.
The Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for both incidents by releasing a video.