Farhad Salimi, a Kurdish prisoner hailing from Saqqez, has faced the grim reality of his death sentence being carried out in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj after enduring 14 years of imprisonment. Despite the recent executions of his co-accused, namely Davud Abdollahi, Qasim Abeste, and Ayoub Karimi, within the past two months, Farhad Salimi met the same unfortunate fate.
As per a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, in the early hours of Tuesday, January 23, 2024, Farhad Salimi, who spent fourteen years incarcerated without the right to leave, was executed in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Salimi had been transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday, and his family was denied the right to a final meeting. Despite being instructed to return for a last visit today, upon arrival, the family was informed that Farhad Salimi’s death sentence had been carried out.
Hengaw emphasized that this political prisoner faced a death sentence through a process that was completely non-transparent, unfair, and illegal within the judicial system of the regime.
It is noteworthy that Farhad Salimi, along with co-accused Anwar Khezri, Khsraw Besharat, and Kamaran Shekha, initiated a hunger strike on Saturday, December 30, 2023, in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. The hunger strike served as a protest against the execution of their fellow prisoner, Davud Abdollahi, and in anticipation of their potential execution.
In recent months, three other individuals from Farhad Salimi’s co-accused group, namely Davud Abdullahi, Ayoub Karimi, and Qasim Abeste, were executed in the same prison. The individuals, including Davud Abdullahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Qasim Abeste, Khsraw Besharat, Kamaran Shekha, and Ayoub Karimi, were apprehended on December 7, 2009, by security forces and later transferred to the intelligence agency detention center in Urmia City.
Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, led by Judge Moqiseh, handed down the death sentences for these prisoners. The charges against them in the murder case of “Abdul Rahim Tina” included “action against national security,” “propaganda against the regime,” “membership in Salafi groups,” and “corruption on earth.”
The session for the accusations against these seven Kurdish prisoners took place in March 2015, with the mentioned sentences officially communicated to them on May 25, 2016.
It is worth noting that the verdict was initially overturned by the 41st branch of the regime Supreme Court, headed by Judge Razini, in 2017. An appeal was made to the 15th branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, where, in June 2017, Davoud Abdollahi and six other co-accused were again sentenced to death by Judge Abolqasem Salvati.
This verdict was confirmed by the 41st branch of the regime’s Supreme Court with repeated pressure from the regime’s Intelligence Department in Urmia. On Monday, March 4, 2020, it was officially communicated to Mahmoud Walizadeh Tabatabai, the lawyer representing these seven Kurdish religious prisoners.
Initially incarcerated in Gohardasht prison, these seven individuals were later transferred to Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj on August 1, 2023, following the evacuation of Gohardasht prison.
