Widespread strike in western Iranian cities to protest execution of Kurdish prisoners and IRGC missile barrage
Photos and videos sent to VOA show markets and merchants in some western Iranian cities on a coordinated strike. They are protesting the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners and a missile attack on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party by the Revolutionary Guards.
The videos sent on Wednesday, September 11, report a general strike in the cities of Sanandaj, Piranshahr, Marivan, Paveh, Oshnavieh, and Mahabad.
A few days ago, Kurdish activists in cyberspace, and some opposition parties to the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party of Iran, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Kurdistan Workers' Party of Iran, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party of Iran, had called on the people of western Iran to refrain from being on the streets on Wednesday in a call titled "We stay in our homes."
Ramin Hossein Panahi, Loghman Moradi, and Zaniar Moradi were executed on Saturday, September 8, in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Ramin Hossein Panahi was sentenced to death in a closed trial without a defense attorney for supporting Kurdish parties opposed to the Islamic Republic. Zaniar and Loghman Moradi were also executed on charges of "war on terror" and murdering the son of the Friday prayer imam of Marivan, despite evidence of their innocence.
The execution of these three Kurdish prisoners sparked reactions from some human rights organizations.
A day ago, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer imprisoned in Iran, called the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners a sign of the inherent violence of the Islamic Republic's judicial system.
Philip Luther, researcher and director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Amnesty International, called the news of the executions horrifying, despite widespread condemnation of the death sentences against these individuals and numerous calls by UN experts and other activists to halt the executions.
The Amnesty International statement also states that the trial of the three was grossly unfair, that they were denied access to their lawyers after their arrest and that they were tortured to make confessions.
In this statement, Amnesty International called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to take immediate steps to ensure fair trials, prohibit torture, and abolish the death penalty, in accordance with Iran's international obligations.
Hossein Ahmadi-Niaz, Ramin Hossein Panahi's defense lawyer, called the execution of Ramin's death sentence illegal in an interview with the Persian service of the Voice of America.
In response to these strikes, some human rights activists have released videos showing Islamic Republic security agents in Mahabad spray-painting shops that have joined the Kurdistan general strike.
Source: Voice of America
