New details in the Houshmand Alipour case; this political prisoner was sentenced to 38 months in prison after the death sentence was overturned

A day after Voice of America reported on the unjust death sentence of Iranian Kurdish political prisoner Houshmand Alipour, his brother says that the death sentence against him has been overturned and the Revolutionary Court has sentenced him to 38 months in prison in a new ruling.

Hezhar Alipour, Houshmand Alipour's brother, told VOA that after the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence issued by Branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court on September 15 for Houshmand Alipour on charges of "rebellion," the case of this political prisoner was sent to Branch 2 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court for reconsideration.

According to the political prisoner's brother, the hearing of this case was held on Sunday, September 20, in the presence of Mr. Alipour and his defense lawyer. The court issued a new verdict, overturning the political prisoner's death sentence and changing his 16-year prison sentence to 38 months in prison on charges of "membership in a party or group opposed to the regime" and "propaganda against the regime."

A case based on forced confessions

Hajar Alipour previously told VOA that during interrogations, Houshmand Alipour was forced to confess to having participated in clashes that occurred a few years before his arrest in the cities of Kurdistan, Saqqez, and Sardasht, and even to an operation that took place at a checkpoint in Saqqez at the same time as his arrest. According to Mr. Alipour, this case, which was being heard in the Urmia Criminal Court, has now been declared closed.

On the other hand, Mr. Alipour said in an interview with Voice of America: "Although the prison sentence has been changed from 16 years to 38 months, the lawyers in the case are trying to protest this sentence as well so that it can be reviewed as soon as possible and Houshmand, like Mohammad Ostad Qader, his co-defendant who was released in early May, can be released from Sanandaj Central Prison as soon as possible."

Houshmand Alipour and Mohammad Ostadghader were arrested by security forces in the city of Saqqez on August 3, 2018. Alipour was sentenced to death on January 29, 2019, a sentence that has now been overturned. The Islamic Republic claimed that the two were “members of a Kurdish party opposed to the regime” and broadcast their confessions on the Islamic Republic Radio and Television. Amnesty International expressed concern at the time in response to these confessions.

Iranian state television usually broadcasts footage of televised confessions of security suspects to prove the correctness of their convictions, but so far, almost all of the detainees have denied their televised confessions after being released from solitary confinement and transferred to the general prison ward, citing pressure, torture, and threats of harm to relatives by interrogators.

Forced confessions, accompanied by violence, by Iranian security forces have been reported many times before. This method of obtaining confessions, which has been repeatedly criticized by human rights groups, continues to be used by the Islamic Republic’s judiciary. Some of these forced confessions from detainees, such as those of Maziar Bahari, Maziar Ebrahimi, Sepideh Gholian, Ebrahim Bakhshi, Saeed Malekpour, and dozens of others, have been broadcast on official Iranian television channels.

In recent months, the Iranian judiciary has repeatedly issued death sentences to dissidents and protest participants. Human rights organizations say that the Islamic Republic does not handle charges fairly and that innocent people have sometimes been tried and even executed. For example, in the 1960s, the Islamic Republic executed thousands of people who had been sentenced to prison.

The United States has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters and civil activists, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.

Source: Voice of America