Rescind The Death Sentence Of Iranian Political Prisoner Gholamreza Khosravi
- Target:
- Ahmed Shaheed, UN, UNHCHR, State Department, EU, Navi Pillay, Ban Ki-Moon, European Parliament
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- www.freedomessenger.com
May 3, 2012--Branch 31 of the Supreme Court has sentenced Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, a political prisoner incarcerated in Evin prison, to death.
On April 21, 2012, Branch 31 of the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of political prisoner Gholamreza Khosravi and forwarded the death sentence to the Enforcement Division.
According to human rights reports, on March 7, 2012, Khosravi’s case No. 9009980002013634, carrying a death sentence, was forwarded to Branch 31 of the Supreme Court. This sentence was upheld jointly by the head of the Brach Mr. Jafari & by a Mr. Tabatabaei.
This former 80′s political prisoner, was arrested in 2006 on charges of donating money to an opposition satellite TV station. In 2007, he was tried in a Court in Rafsanjan on charges of espionage and donating money to Mojahedin Khalgh Organization and was sentenced to three years in prison plus three years suspended sentence.
According to reports by the Human Rights and Democracy Activists, this sentence was objected to by the Intelligence Ministry and therefore it was changed to six years in prison.
Upon additional charges pressed by the Defense Ministry, the case of this political prisoner entered a new phase, and after a one year incarceration in Intelligence Ministry’s solitary confinement, he was transferred to the Defense Ministry’s prison 64.
After going through long periods of interrogations, he was put on trial in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Pirabbasi, on charges of Moharebeh (Enmity against God). Judge Pirabbasi ruled the charges beyond the scope of his court’s jurisdiction.
The ruling issued by Branch 26 was overturned by the Supreme Court, and the case was returned to the same court for retrial, which resulted in a death sentence issued in 2010.
This last verdict was also overturned by the Supreme Court and sent back to Branch 26 in November of 2011 for retrial, which ultimately resulted in a death sentence for the defendant.
It must be noted that Gholamreza Khosravi was incarcerated in solitary confinement in Ward 240 of Evin prison during this entire time, in addition to the solitary confinements in Kerman prison.
Many political and rights activists have in the past been executed after being falsely accused of having ties to the PMOI, also known as MEK or MKO.
In March, Amnesty International’s annual report on capital punishment listed Iran as a leading executioner in 2011. The organisation said it had received “credible reports of a large number of unconfirmed or even secret executions which would almost double the levels officially acknowledged” by Iranian authorities.
We, the undersigned, demand that the international community bring all possible pressure to bear upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to reverse the death sentence against Khosravi Savadjani.
Such a savage sentence for the "crime" of donating money to any sort of media outlet is unconscionable, as is his prolonged incarceration in solitary confinement where he was at the mercy of the interrogators of various regime ministries.
Furthermore, since this is purely a politically motivated case, and thus Mr. Savadjani is a prisoner of conscience being persecuted soley for the peaceful exercise of his rights as guaranteed by both international human rights covenants and the Iranian Constitution, we demand that he be immediately and unconditionally release from prison and all charges against him dismissed.
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The Rescind The Death Sentence Of Iranian Political Prisoner Gholamreza Khosravi petition to Ahmed Shaheed, UN, UNHCHR, State Department, EU, Navi Pillay, Ban Ki-Moon, European Parliament was written by John S. Burke and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.