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Iran's Supreme Court upholds Kurdish journalist's death sentence On 22 October the Iranian regime's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Adnan Hassanpour passed by a lower court. Hassanpour, a Kurdish journalist who is a dedicated supporter of Kurdish cultural rights, was convicted because he had allegedly "revealed the location of military sites and established contacts with the US State Department." The court quashed the conviction of another Kurdish journalist convicted in the same case, Abdolwahed "Hiwa" Bootimar, an active member of the environmental NGO Sabzchia. Bootimar had also been under sentence of death. According to Saleh Nikbakht, one of the lawyers representing the two journalists, the court overturned Bootimar's conviction on the grounds of a "procedural irregularity," and sent his case back to the same 'revolutionary court' in Marivan (a small Kurdish town near the Iraqi border) that had convicted him and Hassanpour on 16 July on charges of spying, "subversive activity against national security" and "separatist propaganda." Although the Supreme Court's ruling was issued in late October Mr Nikbakht was not notified of the decision until 5 November - even then he was not given the details of the ruling! Hassanpour and Bootimar's lawyers have also not been allowed to meet with them in private in order to inform them of the Supreme Court's decision. Hassanpour, 27, and Bootimar, 29, used to work for the weekly Asou, covering Kurdish issues, until the newspaper was banned by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in August 2005. Kurdish national rights are systematically denied by the Tehran government and all Kurdish activists are given particularly harsh sentences. Hassanpour also worked for foreign news media including Voice of America and Radio Farda. He was arrested outside his home on 25 January and was taken to Mahabad, where he was not allowed to receive visits from his family or his lawyer. Bootimar was arrested on 25 December. They have been held in Sanandaj prison for several months. As long as the "spying" charges are allowed to stand against Adnan Hassanpour then his life is in serious danger. We urge all human rights activists and trade unionists to help IWSN and other organisations' campaigns in dropping these baseless charges against Adnan Hassanpour. Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network Sign petition condemning the death sentence (RSF) |