Seqiz – The execution of a Kurdish activist was halted reports BBC Persian. There is a possibility that activist Sherko (Bahman) Maarafi will face a new court case.
The lawyer of Sherko, Halid Behramiyan told BBC Persian that his client’s execution was halted. Beyramiyan said that it’s possible Maarafi will again be sentenced, as the Iranian law dictates. But Maarafi is still in an isolation cell.
Maarafi comes from the Kurdish city Baneh from Iran. He was arrested in October last year. In January he was sentenced to death for ‘enmity against god’. His lawyers say there was no investigation into the alleged crimes of the Kurdish activist.
Both the family of Maarafi as Amnesty International called on the Iranian authorities this week, not to execute Maarafi. In a short time, Maarafi would be the second Kurdish prisoners executed, after the execution of Komala member Ehsan Fetahiyan on 11 November.
Recently AFP reported that the Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd and has good ties to Iran, will visit Iran to stop the execution of Kurdish prisoners. This would allegedly be bad for the ties between the Kurdish population in Iran and the Iranian government, Iran has rejected the news and says Talabani is going to Iran for medical treatment.
The New York Times reported that the flurry of executions and death sentences in Iran has raised concern that the government is using judicially sanctioned killing to intimidate the political opposition and quell pockets of ethnic unrest around the nation (Photo: Payvand)
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