MESOP WATCH VIDEO | Iranian Kurds Stage Massive Strike after Execution of Kurdish Political Prisoner
ERBIL 212-2021 — Iranian Kurdish cities on Thursday went on a strike to protest the execution of a political prisoner by the Iranian government earlier this week.
Haidar Ghorbani was hanged in the central prison of Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, last Sunday despite repeated calls from international human rights organizations on the Tehran government to reverse the sentence.
To protest what they describe as “a secret execution”, Iranian Kurds closed down shops in Sanandaj, Baneh, Naghdade, Bokan, and several other major cities.
Previous reports said Iranian authorities had expected the reaction, and, therefore, warned the people against any strike or public gatherings over the case.
Qorbani was arrested at his home on 16 October 2016. He was later given a death penalty for alleged “membership and complicity with the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran”.
Family members said Qorbani was subject to “extreme physical and mental torture” during months-long in solitary confinement until he was forced to appear on Iran’s English-language Press TV for confession.
Despite appealing to the Iranian Supreme Court for reconsideration of the death sentence, Qorabni’s lawyer informed his family in August 2020 that the sentence had been upheld.
Hengaw said in a report earlier this week that the Kurdish political prisoner was “secretly” executed at 04:00 a.m. (Local Time) in Sanandaj central prison. His execution was later confirmed in a statement by the public relations department of Sanandaj Judicial Council.
Family sources said Qorbani was denied contact with his family for 20 months after his arrest. He was only allowed to speak with his family over the phone months after the forced confession.