It has been one week since the deputy prosecutor in the northwestern city of Urmia told the brother of Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlou that Hamid had been transferred to Tehran and executed. Hamid was a Kurdish porter (known as a “kolbar”) who was illiterate.
Reports from inside Iran indicate that Ronahi, the 13-year-old daughter of this Kurdish porter who was secretly executed by Iran’s judiciary on the early morning of Monday, April 21, has been denied entry to school and has been “banned from continuing her education.”
Following the summons of Hamid’s brothers to the Ministry of Interior’s intelligence office in Urmia, they were told there is no information about the body of the executed Kurdish porter, and that the family should “just move on with their lives.” Security agents told Hamid Hosseinnejad’s brothers that they had buried the body themselves and would not disclose the location. The family, however, insists on at least seeing some form of proof or a photo of his lifeless body to be sure that he is truly dead, so they do not spend the rest of their lives waiting in uncertainty.
Hamid was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of rebellion through membership in opposition groups.
Iran’s Supreme Court upheld this lower court ruling in mid-March. The confirmation of the death sentence was not even officially communicated to Hamid’s lawyer, Mr. Moziyyan. He only found out about it a month later when he inquired in person. A few days later, he was informed that the case had been forwarded to the enforcement office and that the family should come for the “final visit.”
Prison officials in Urmia had told Hamid’s family that the execution was scheduled for Friday. However, after news of the imminent execution became public and sparked reactions from civil society and human rights organizations, the family was informed that the execution had been “temporarily suspended.”
Nonetheless, on the night of Monday, April 21, the deputy prosecutor in Urmia told Hamid’s brother that he had already been taken to Tehran and executed on Saturday, April 18.
On Monday, April 28, Hamid Hosseinnejad’s brothers were summoned again to the regime’s Ministry of Interior’s intelligence office in Urmia, and the family insisted on seeing the body or being told the burial site, they were told that Hamid had been executed, buried by the judiciary itself, and that his burial place would not be revealed to the family.
