Amnesty’s Urgent Action – IRAN: Gholamreza Khosravi is scheduled to be executed on 10 September

HRANA News Agency – Amnesty International; An Iranian man, Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani, is scheduled to be executed on 10 September, on the charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for his alleged support of a banned Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).

IRAN: MAN AT RISK OF EXECUTION

 

The family of Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani, aged 50, stated that he was told in July 2012 that his death sentence will be implemented on 10 September. Held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since July 2011, he has reportedly spent over 40 months in solitary confinement in various detention centres since his arrest in 2008, including in Section 240 of Evin Prison. After his arrest, he is alleged to have been held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in Kerman, southern Iran, where he is said to have been tortured or ill-treated, reportedly after refusing to make a “confession”.

Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani was arrested in 2008 in Rafsanjan, Kerman Province, in connection with his alleged support of the pro-PMOI TV station Sima-ye Azadi (Voice of Freedom). In 2008 he was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, three years of which were suspended. Following an appeal by the Ministry of Intelligence, the three-year suspended sentence was implemented, bringing his total sentence to 6 years actual imprisonment. Following further legal proceedings, including two retrials, he was sentenced to death after conviction of a fresh charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for his alleged ties to the PMOI, which the Supreme Court confirmed on 21 April 2012.

USE PERSIAN, ARABIC OR ENGLISH TO CREATE A PERSONAL APPEAL,

* calling on the Iranian authorities not to execute Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani, or anyone else sentenced to death and remind them that under international law, the death penalty can only be carried out for “the most serious crimes” which must be “intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences,

* expressing concern that Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani did not receive a fair trial, and urging the authorities to investigate the allegations that he was tortured and to bring to justice anyone found responsible for abuses,

* asking the authorities to make sure Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, is granted all necessary medical treatment, and is allowed immediate and regular contact with his lawyers and family.

HERE IS THE CONTACT INFORMATION YOU NEED:

Leader of the Islamic Republic:

Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei

The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid

Keshvar Doust Street

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email:[email protected]

Twitter:“#Iran Leader @khamenei_ir must ensure Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani is not executed”

Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Tehran Judiciary:

Mr Ali Reza Avaie

No. 152, corner of 17th Alley

Before Shahid Motahhary Ave.

Sanaei Ave., Karimkhan Zand Ave.

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: 011 98 21 883 26700

Salutation: Your Excellency

PLEASE SEND A COPY TO

Secretary General High Council for Human Rights:

Mohammed Javad Larijani

c/o Office of the Head of the Judicary

Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave.

South of Serah-e Jomhouri

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email:[email protected](In the subject line, write FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

Folks in Canada please also send a copy to Embassy of Iran in Ottawa:

Mr Kambiz Sheikh Hassani

Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran

245 Metcalfe Street

Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2

Fax: (613) 232-5712

Email: [email protected]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

In November 2009, following a new charge of “enmity against God” brought against Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court ruled that the case fell outside the court’s jurisdiction, reportedly because Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani had already been tried and sentenced for his alleged PMOI support in 2008. The Supreme Court overturned this ruling and sent the case back to Branch 26 for retrial. Following a retrial in 2010, he was sentenced to death for “enmity against God” (moharebeh). The Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and sent the case back to Branch 26 for a second time. During the second retrial, the court again sentenced Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani to death. On 21 April 2012, the Supreme Court confirmed this sentence.

Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani previously spent five years in prison, which he served in Kazeroun Prison and Adel-Abad Prison, in Fars Province, south-west Iran, from 1981 to 1986, for his alleged ties to the PMOI.

The PMOI is a banned opposition group based in Iraq which advocates the overthrow of the Iranian government. The PMOI has previously engaged in armed action against the Iranian government.

A teacher, Abdolreza Ghanbari, has also been sentenced to death for his alleged links to the PMOI. Abdolreza Ghanbari was arrested at his workplace after anti-government demonstrations took place on 27 December 2009 to mark the Ashoura religious commemorations, at the end of six months of protests following the disputed presidential election of 2009. Held in Evin Prison since his arrest, where he was reportedly tortured or otherwise ill-treated and denied access to a lawyer. Abdolreza Ghanbari was tried unfairly before Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 30 January 2010 and sentenced to death for moharebeh (“enmity against God”) for alleged links to the PMOI. The sentence was upheld on appeal, and his request for a pardon from the Amnesty and Clemency Commission was rejected at the end of February 2012. Once his death sentence has been approved by the Head of the Judiciary, it will be sent for implementation. Others in Iran feared to be facing imminent execution after conviction of political offences are Habibollah Golparipour, Zaniar Moradi, and Loghman Moradi (members of Iran’s Kurdish minority), Mansour Heidari, and Amir Muawi (or Mo’avi) (members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority), Saeed Malekpour and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall.

The Iranian authorities resort extensively to the imposition of the death penalty, with over 600 executions reported in the country from official and unofficial sources in 2011. In November 2011, the UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees implementation of the ICCPR, expressed concern about the number of death sentences imposed and carried out in Iran in its Concluding Observations. The Committee stated that the Iranian authorities “should consider abolishing the death penalty or at least revise the Penal Code to restrict the imposition of the death penalty to only the ‘most serious crimes’”. For further information regarding the use of the death penalty in Iran in 2011, seeAmnesty International: Death Sentences and Executions in 2011,(MDE ACT 50/001/2012), 27 March 2012,http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT50/001/2012/en.So far this year, the Iranian authorities have acknowledged the execution of at least 178 people, 35 of them put to death in public. Amnesty International has received credible reports of 94 other executions which were not officially acknowledged, mostly of people convicted of drugs offences. Saeed Sedeghi is reportedly facing imminent execution after conviction of a drugs offence following an unfair trial.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *