Shaker Behrouz, political prisoner, sentenced to death

Shaker Behrouz, a political prisoner imprisoned in Urmia Prison, was sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court. The verdict was communicated to his defense lawyer today, Thursday, September 10.

According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, Shaker Behrouz, a political prisoner imprisoned in Urmia Prison, was sentenced to death.

According to this verdict, issued by Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ali Sheikh Lou, Mr. Behrouz was sentenced to death on charges of rebellion through membership in an opposition party and the murder of a member of the Revolutionary Guards. This verdict was communicated to his defense lawyer today, Thursday, September 10, 2020.

The court hearing to investigate Mr. Behrouz's charges was held on September 28, 2020, in Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ali Sheikh Lou and in the presence of his defense lawyer.

A source familiar with the court hearing and the circumstances of Mr. Behrouz's case told HRANA: "Mr. Behrouz had already chosen a lawyer of his own choosing for his case. During the court hearing, which was attended by his lawyer, Wahab Jafar, the judge charged Mr. Behrouz with membership in Komala and put him on trial. However, Mr. Behrouz denied the charge, and his lawyer, Mr. Wahab Jafar, said in court, "Why did you do this? You were a member but you don't want to declare it?" Eventually, a verbal altercation broke out between Mr. Behrouz and his lawyer, and he was returned to prison. After four days, Mr. Behrouz was taken to court again, where they placed a court order in front of him and told him to sign. Mr. Behrouz said that he would not sign it until he read it. "They finally let him read the first few lines of the indictment, which were related to the charges, but when he wanted to read the part of his conviction, they took the indictment from him and did not let him read it, and for this reason he did not sign the indictment and was returned to prison. Mr. Behrouz wrote a letter to the court in prison, dismissing his previous lawyer and replacing him with a new one. Mr. Behrouz's new lawyer also went to court today, studied the case, and told Mr. Behrouz that the death sentence had been issued to him."

Shakir Behrouz joined a Kurdish opposition party in Iraq in 2018 and returned to Iran in September of the same year after receiving a letter of protection. After returning to Iran, he was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence forces and released after 14 days of interrogation. Mr. Behrouz was arrested by security forces on March 1, 2018 on charges of membership in an opposition party (the Kurdistan Democratic Party) and was transferred to Urmia Prison on Saturday, April 1, 2019, after enduring about a month of detention in the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center in Urmia.

This citizen from Urmia was transferred from Urmia Prison to the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center in May 2019 and returned to the Talash Ward of Urmia Prison in March 2019 after about ten months. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Mr. Behrouz was finally transferred to the political ward on April 28, 2019, after spending 14 days in the Talash Ward and 4 days in the secure ward of this prison. In the fifth month of his detention, Mr. Behrouz was transferred to Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, where, after a trial that lasted about three minutes, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of membership in an opposition party (the Kurdistan Democratic Party).

Shakir Behrouz was tried again in a case filed against him this spring, on charges of rebellion through membership in one of the opposition parties (Komala) and the murder of a member of the Revolutionary Guards in the Marghur region of Urmia, and sentenced to death.

A source familiar with Mr. Behrouz's situation regarding the issuance of this sentence for Mr. Behrouz told HRANA: "While Shaker Behrouz's case was being investigated on charges of membership in the Kurdistan Democratic Party throughout all stages of the interrogation, this spring it was changed to charges of rebellion through membership in Komala and the murder of a member of the Revolutionary Guards in the Marghur region of Urmia."

According to this informed source, the victim's family has announced that they are not suing Mr. Behrouz and do not consider him to be his murderer, and they have even announced that they are willing to testify on this issue in court. On the other hand, Mr. Behrouz has more than ten witnesses who were in the shop at the exact time of the murder and were not at the scene of the murder. These people have all written letters and Mr. Behrouz has submitted their letters to the court, saying that they are willing to swear in court and testify that Mr. Behrouz was in the shop at the time of the murder and not at the scene of the murder. However, the court tried Mr. Behrouz without the presence of the plaintiffs in the case and Mr. Behrouz's witnesses.

Previously, a source informed about Mr. Behrouz's situation told HRANA's reporter: "Shaker Behrouz is being interrogated in the IRGC's intelligence detention center and is living in inappropriate conditions. On the other hand, security forces have pressured and tortured him in order to extract a forced confession to the murder of a member of the IRGC."

Shakir Behrouz, Salim's son, is 32 years old, single, and a resident of the Dizaj region of Urmia.

Source: HRANA