The political prisoner Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heydaranlu, who has been sentenced to death, has been transferred from the political ward of Urmia Central Prison to the prison’s quarantine section. Human rights sources reported that this transfer, along with the Supreme Court’s confirmation of his sentence, has intensified concerns about the imminent risk of his execution.
Human rights organizations reported on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, that Hamid Hoseinnezhad Heydaranlu has been transferred to the quarantine ward of Urmia Prison and stated that this move puts him on the verge of imminent execution.
Hoseinnezhad’s family has been informed to visit the prison for a final meeting, and his lawyer has written that the execution is scheduled to be carried out on Friday, April 18, 2025.
At the same time, the human rights website Hengaw also reported on his transfer to one of Urmia Prison’s solitary confinement cells, stating that his life is in danger.
Previously, on March 29, 2025, Branch 9 of Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Hoseinnezhad Heydaranlu without any changes. The ruling was formally delivered to him in Urmia Prison.
In July 2024, Hoseinnezhad was tried by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh. He was sentenced to death on the charge of “armed rebellion through membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”
The death sentence was issued despite the fact that he had denied all charges against him during the court session.
The Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence, without providing any evidence, accused Hoseinnezhad of cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The judge, disregarding his defense, issued a death sentence in a court session lasting only a few minutes, solely based on what is referred to as the “judge’s knowledge” — a vague concept that allows rulings without hard evidence.
Hoseinnezhad, born in 1985 and a father of three, had been working as a “kolbar” — a porter who carries goods across Iran’s mountainous western borders — to make ends meet in recent years.
The Expansion of The “No to Executions Tuesdays” Campaign To 40 Prisons Across Iran
He was arrested by border patrol forces on April 13, 2023, near the Chaldoran border crossing. After a few hours of interrogation, he was transferred to the Intelligence Department’s detention facility in Urmia.
Hoseinnezhad was subjected to psychological and physical torture for 11 months and 10 days in order to extract forced confessions regarding his alleged participation in an armed clash between PKK members and Iranian regime border forces. Interrogators forced him to sign pre-written documents.
In recent months, the rising number of executions as well as the issuance and confirmation of death sentences for political prisoners in Iran has triggered a wave of protests both inside the country and internationally.
In the latest example, a group of families of political prisoners sentenced to death gathered in front of Evin Prison on April 15, 2025, during the 64th week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign. The campaign includes hunger strikes by prisoners in 40 prisons across the country.
According to human rights sources, around 60 individuals in prisons across Iran are currently under death sentences on political or national security-related charges.
