Political Prisoner Saeed Sangar Released After 21 Years in Prison

On Saturday, October 30, political prisoner Saeed Sangar was released on parole from Urmia Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Sangar’s release comes after 21 years of imprisonment.

On August 31, 2000, Sangar was arrested. However, in his legal case, October 29 of that year has been wrongly recorded as the arrest date.

On November 18, 2000, the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, headed by judge Fatemi, sentenced him to death on the charge of “enmity against God (Moharebeh) through membership in The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran”. Following this conviction, Sangar was transferred from the detention center of the ministry of intelligence in Sanandaj to ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, where he was held in solitary confinement cells until 2003. In the fall of 2003, the appellate court changed the verdict to life imprisonment and sent him to Urmia Prison.

Years later, on December 23, 2016, the executive branch No. 4 of the Department of Justice in Sanandaj reduced the verdict to 18 years imprisonment.

In 2017, a new case was opened against him for the charge of “propaganda against the regime”  of which, however, he was later acquitted.

Despite that by December of 2020, not only he had served out two years more than his 18-years sentence, he was sentenced again to 11 months imprisonment sentence on the charge of ” propaganda against the regime and in favor of dissident groups against the regime”. This sentence was reduced to eight months, which led to his final release this Saturday, October 30.

Female Prisoner Kobra Fatemi Executed in Yazd Prison Under Qisas (Eye-for-an-Eye) Principle of Shariah Law

On May 23, Kobra Fatemi was executed in Yazd Prison on a charge of murder under the Qisas (loosely translated as “eye for an eye”) principle of Shariah Law.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Acvitists, quoting Iran Human Rights (IHR),  41-year-old Fatemi had been in prison since 2015 for the murder of her husband.

Based on the report, an informed source stated: “The victim’s family were going to grant forgiveness but the victim’s paternal uncle, who is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, insisted that the sentence be carried out and refused diya (blood money) on behalf of the victim’s family.”

“Kobra Fatemi had been married for three years and did not have any children,”  the source added. “Family disputes led her to the murder of her husband,”

According to international organizations, Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per-capita. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) reported that between January 1st and  December 20th of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed. One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death.

The report states that more than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary. Human rights organizations call these “secret executions.”

At the time of writing, her execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran