Five Iranian Kurds Sentenced To 46 Years In Prison, One Tortured To Death
By GVF
A revolutionary court in Iran has sentenced five Kurdish citizens to a total of 46 years in prison, according to reports.
On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Press Agency reports that Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of Khoy has sentenced five Iranian Kurds to 46 years in jail for their alleged ties to Kurdish opposition groups. The names of the five individuals, all residents of Maku city in West Azerbaijan, are: Mostafa Armin, Mousa Hatefi, Saeed Derayat, Ali Marhamati and Vali Balkhanloo.
The five men were arrested a year ago. According to local reports, Vali Balkhanloo was tortured to death just days after his arrest. The news of his death has not yet been made public.
Vali Balkhanloo and Mostafa Armin have been sentenced to 15 ½ years in prison in addition to exile after being found guilty of Moharebeh (enmity against God). Saeed Derayat and Ali Marhamati were sentenced to four years in jail, while Mousa Hatefi received a seven-year prison term.
Iran’s ethnic minority communities, including Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluch, Kurds and Turkmen, suffer “ongoing systematic discrimination in law and practice” according to Amnesty International. “Those who campaigned for greater political participation or recognition of minorities’ economic, social and cultural rights faced systematic threats, arrest and imprisonment,” Amnesty‘s 2011 report added.
Sunni Kurds face additional discrimination for they are both a linguistic and a religious minority.
Authorities continue to prohibit the use of minority languages in schools and government offices, despite the fact that the constitution permits the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as in schools.
The Islamic Republic of Iran must stop executing political dissents without any justification.
There are thousands of innocent activists currently decaying behind bars without any access to legal rights, mostly being Kurds.
Iran’s Human Rights violation record has exponentially aggravated over the course of last decade.
One could end up in prison for years just for disseminating propaganda or writing an article criticizing the incumbent officials.
Counting from the year 2012 thus far, 79 Kurds have been excused. According to some classified information, there are 312 Kurds serving indefinite jial terms in Tehran’s most notorious prision, ” AVIN:.
KURDISTAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT
K.I.M.
WASHINGTON DC, USA