Protest against execution of Kurdish political activist

Tens of people in Sanadaj joined a street demonstration to protest the hanging of Ehsan Fatahian, the young Iranian political activist. Zamaneh has been informed that the march was confronted by security forces and the crowd dispersed to stop the demonstrations.

Ehsan Fatahian was hanged Wednesday morning and according to Kurdistan Human Rights Watch, his remains were buried in his birthplace of Kermanshah without informing his family. Reportedly, he is buried in the “farthest corner” of the cemetery in an unidentified plot.

While Ehsan Fatahian was primarily convicted of “activities against national security” for his collaboration with a Kurdish Party and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in exile, in an appeals court he was also accused of "moharebeh" (armed combat) and thus given a sentence of execution.

In a letter written by Fatahian prior to his execution, he writes that before increasing his sentence from 10 years imprisonment, security officials had put him under pressure to do a video interview to “confess to deeds which he had not committed” and “renounce his own beliefs.”

According to the letter, Ehsan Fatahian was told that if he refused to do the interview, he would be hanged.

In the past two days, numerous activists as well as the Fatahian family had called on the judiciary to stop his execution but the judiciary remained silent on the issue.

Amnesty International condemned the execution of Ehsan Fatahian. The human rights group had already urged Iranian judiciary to stop the execution of Fatahian and two other individuals in the Kurdistan region of Iran.

Since the start of the post-election protests in June, 150 people have been executed in Iran. Ehsan Fatahian is the first person to be executed in the post-election events for political crimes. Currently 12 other Kurdish political prisoners are on death row.