The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas.
Kurdish student faces death penalty in Iran on blasphemy charges
An Iranian Kurdish student arrested during the recent anti-government protests faces possible death penalty on charges of blasphemy.
The student, Ibrahim Khaledi, is expected to receive heavy sentences due to the discovery of “blasphemous” content found on his phone that had allegedly depicted the prophet of Islam in a “blasphemous” way.
According to Article 262 of the Islamic Penal Code, insulting Prophet Muhammad is punishable by death.
However, it can be reduced to 74 lashes per Article 264 of the same law if the defendant confesses to the court that the content was recorded due to a mistake or anger.
Iran Islamic court sentences Kurds to years in prison on propaganda charges
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj has sentenced a Kurdish citizen and an environmental activist to several years behind bars on charges of propaganda against the state.
The court sentenced 27-year-old Shahram Farhadi to four years in prison.
Farhadi, who is from the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, is a well-known activist of the Association for the Protection of the Environment.
The same court in Sanandaj also sentenced Mohammad Naeempour, 45, to two years in prison.
Naeempour suffered form heart disease and was taken to hospital for treatment while in prison.
The appeal court has 20 days to confirm the sentences.
http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/six-years-of-imprisonment-for-two-kurdish-citizens-in-sanandaj/
Lawyer explains case of Kurdish political death row prisoner in Iran
Iranian Kurdish lawyer Hossein Ahmad Niazi in an interview with KHRN has explained the case of Kurdish political prisoner Hedayat Abdollahpour, who has been sentenced to death on charges of cooperation with and propaganda for an outlawed Iranian Kurdish party.
Niazi said the political prisoner has confessed to crimes under pressure and torture, therefore he will contest the verdict because he believes that Abdollahpour is innocent,
The Kurdish defendant was not involved in a conflict and did not carry weapons, but he was forced by gunmen of an outlawed Kurdish party, the PDKI, to bring them food.
“He was forced to be part of the crime while guns were appointed on his head,” the lawyer said.
