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Iran upholds death sentence for Kurdish
activist Hiwa Botimar for the second time
13.4.2008
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April
13, 2008
Mariwan, Iranian Kurdistan, -- Iran has
upheld a
death sentence
for a Kurdish activist convicted of links to an
Iran outlawed separatist group after the supreme court
quashed the original hanging verdict, his lawyer
said on Sunday.
"A revolutionary court in the town of Mariwan has
sentenced Hiwa Botimar to death for the second time
after the supreme court quashed its first verdict
and ordered a new trial," lawyer Saleh Nikbakht told
AFP.
He said the court in western Kurdistan province had
found 31-year-old environmental activist Botimar
guilty of "moharebeh" (being an enemy of god) and
having ties with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
Nikbakht said the court cited as evidence of guilt
hundreds of bullets found in Botimar's possession
which he had recovered from an abandoned army camp
in a Kurdistan village when he was 14. |
Kurdish journalists
Adnan Hassanpur (L) and Hiwa Botimar (R)
sentenced to death by the Iranian Islamic regime.
Iran has upheld a death sentence for the second time
for Hiwa Boutimar |
"The court gave its ruling regardless of the army's
official explanations," the lawyer said, adding that
he had 20 days to appeal the verdict against his
client who has been in jail since December 2006.
In a separate ruling, the supreme court has quashed
a death sentence against another Kurdish man accused
of espionage and imprisoned since January 2007,
Nikbakht said.
Adnan Hassanpour, 26,www.ekurd.net
who briefly worked as a
journalist for a local publication in Kurdistan
province, "was approached by some political people
to gather information about military sites," the
lawyer said.
"He has denied any systematic ties with outlawed
political groups," Nikbakht said, adding that he
awaited a judiciary ruling for a retrial.
The death sentences were in July 2007 condemned in
Europe and raised the concern of press and human
rights watchdogs.
But Nikbakht said the charges against Hassanpour
were unrelated to his journalistic work.
Iran has been battling separatist rebels of the
Iran's Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) in its
western Kurdish-populated areas (Iranian Kurdistan)
Tehran has repeatedly accused the United States of
seeking to stir up ethnic unrest by providing
material support to PJAK, which has bases in
northeastern neighbouring Iraq.
PJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan), Since
2004 PJAK took up arms for self-rule in the
country's mainly Kurdistan province northwestern of
Iran (Iranian Kurdistan). Half the members of PJAK
are women.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
AFP | Agencies
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the journalists who have been sentenced to death in
Iran
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan)) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
PJAK
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PEJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PEJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a
Free Life in Kurdistan
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