Iran executes Kurdish prisoner accused of membership in PKK

Hamid Hosseinnezhad
Hamid Hosseinnezhad

Iran has executed a Kurdish political prisoner who was accused of rebellion through membership in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, state-run media outlets reported on Monday.

A report by the Revolutionary Guard's outlet Fars News says Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydaranlou helped a team of terrorists kill several Iranian border guards enter and exit Iran's borders in November 2017.

However, Hosseinnezhad's daughter Ronahi says security agents forced her father to make a coerced confession under torture.

Born in 1985 and a father of three, Hosseinnezhad worked as a border porter in the Chalderan region to support his family, according to Kurdpa human rights organization.

He was arrested in April 2023 by border guards near Chalderan, interrogated for several hours, and then transferred to the Urmia Intelligence Detention Center.

Hosseinnezhad had previously been moved to solitary confinement on April 15 for the planned execution on April 17. However, the execution was halted that morning amid widespread public protest on social media and the presence of his family and other people outside the prison.

In a brief phone call with his family, Hosseinnezhad confirmed being held in the Urmia Intelligence facility and urged them to follow up on his case.

On the same day, his daughter released a video saying that her father was tortured in prison and forced to confess under duress.

Hosseinnezhad was tried in July 2024 by Reza Najafzadeh, head of Branch 1 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, and sentenced to death on charges of “rebellion through membership in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).”

According to Kurdpa, he endured 11 months and 10 days of psychological and physical torture aimed at extracting forced confessions of participation in armed clashes between the PKK and Iranian border forces.

In recent months, a rise in executions and death sentences for political prisoners in Iran has sparked widespread condemnation from rights groups and Western governments.