Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); January 2, 2024: After spending 14 years on death row, Kurdish-Sunni political prisoner, Davoud Abdollahi was executed for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) in Ghezelhesar Prison.
Iran Human Rights condemns the rampant executions, which have intensified in recent months, and calls for immediate international attention to this issue.
Director, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam said: "Davoud Abdollahi had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court based on confessions obtained under torture and without a fair trial. His execution, like that of other prisoners of conscience, is an extrajudicial killing. The leaders of the Islamic Republic, especially Ali Khamenei, must be held accountable for extrajudicial killings. The current trend of executions, even on the scale of the Islamic Republic, is unprecedented."
Amiry-Moghaddam added: "The international community, especially governments adhering to human rights principles that have diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, should break their silence in the face of the wave of executions and show an appropriate response."
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Kurdish Sunni political prisoner Davoud Abdollahi was executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 2 January.
Davoud Abdollahi who was a Kurdish and Sunni minority, was arrested along with Ghasem Abasteh, Anwar Khezri, Ayoub Karimi, Farhad Salimi, Khosro Besharat and Kamran Sheikheh in January 2010.
They were interrogated in Urmia before being transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran. They were subsequently transferred to Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison in Karaj where they were held until its closure in August when they were transferred to Ghezelhesar Prison. An informed source previously told IHRNGO that the seven political prisoners were physically and psychologically tortured to extract forced confessions.
They were sentenced to death for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through “armed action and membership in a Salafi jihadi group” in a case with seven defendants by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court in February/March 2016. One of their charges related to the death of a Sunni cleric named Mamousta Abdolrahim Tina.
Davoud Abdollahi is the third defendant in the case to be executed in the last two months. Ghasem Abasteh was executed in Ghezelhesar Prison on 5 November 2023 and Ayoub Karimi was executed at the same prison on 29 November. Anwar Khezri, Farhad Salimi, Khosro Besharat and Kamran Sheikheh are all at risk of execution.
Iran Human Rights has recorded 39 executions in the last week.