Lawyer in the case: Ramin Hossein Panahi has been transferred to Karaj to carry out the death sentence
A week after the transfer of Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death, to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, one of the prisoner's lawyers announced that he had been transferred to that prison in order to carry out his death sentence.
On Wednesday, August 21, in an interview with the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, Hossein Ahmadiniaz said that as Ramin Hosseinpanahi's lawyer, he confirms that his client has been transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison to carry out the death sentence, and that there is a possibility that the death sentence will be carried out at any moment.
Ramin Hossein Panahi's lawyer added: "We declare that this verdict was issued against the law and that the procedural procedures were not followed, and that my client's rights have been completely violated, and that this execution is inhumane."
Last week, Hossein Ahmadi-Niaz, Osman Mazin, and Maziar Tataei, lawyers for Mr. Hossein Panahi, declared in a statement that the transfer of this prisoner to Rajai Shahr, Karaj, without their client's request, was illegal.
This Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Monday night, August 12, without prior notice to his lawyer or family. Some news websites wrote that Mr. Hossein Panahi is being held in one of the sections for dangerous criminals in Rajai Shahr Prison.
Ramin Hossein Panahi's lawyers announced in their statement that, given that the prison where the sentence was issued and the place where the convict's relatives live has priority for holding the prisoner, and that it is not possible to transfer him from one prison to another except at the prisoner's request, his transfer to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj is against the client's wishes, and this has violated the rights of his parents and relatives to visit the client and created restrictions for them.
According to Mr. Hossein Panahi's lawyers, the prisoner's transfer to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj occurred while, based on the agreement of the judge and prison authorities, he should have been transferred to one of the medical centers in Sanandaj for treatment of his kidney and back pain.
Some online activists, by posting messages on social media, had suggested that Mr. Hossein Panahi's transfer to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj was to prepare for the execution of his death sentence.
Ramin Hossein Panahi, who was arrested in July last year on charges of being a member of the Kurdistan Komala Party, has been severely tortured during this time, according to reports from human rights organizations.
His lawyer and family say he does not deserve to be executed, but the Islamic Republic punishes membership in opposition groups, such as the Komala Party, with the death penalty.
Not long ago, more than two thousand political, social, and civil activists signed a letter calling for the immediate halt and cancellation of Ramin Hossein Panahi's death sentence.
Amnesty International had previously emphasized that Mr. Hossein Panahi was sentenced to death in an unfair trial.
Source: Voice of America
