Iran ex-detainees press Sweden over death row academic

Kurdish political prisoner in Iran faces imminent execution as second request for a retrial rejected

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported that Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected the second appeal for a retrial of Hatem Özdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner with Turkish citizenship, and upheld his death sentence. With this latest rejection, Özdemir’s execution is now even more imminent. Özdemir was sentenced to death in May 2024 by Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on cha…

Iran ex-detainees press Sweden over death row academic

Over 20 foreign nationals who themselves endured years of captivity in Iran on Wednesday urged Sweden to step up efforts to free a Swedish-Iranian citizen sentenced to death in the country, after he had a heart attack last week. Ahmadreza Djalali, an academic who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges he denies, suffered a heart attack in Tehran's Evin prison, his wife said Friday. Djalali, 53, is among a number of Europeans held by…

Lessons from my friend's execution in Evin Prison

This year, more than ever, it's impossible not to think about the execution of my best friend, Shirin Alamhooli, on May 9, 2010. I met Shirin in Iran's notorious Evin Prison where I had been arrested and sentenced to death by hanging because of converting to Christianity, a "crime" the Islamic regime calls "apostasy" and which carries a death penalty. I was arrested...

Supreme Court Rejects Second Retrial Request for Hatem Ozdemir

HRANA News Agency – The Supreme Court has rejected a second request for retrial filed on behalf of Hatem Ozdemir, a Turkish national and political prisoner sentenced to death and currently held in Urmia Prison. This marks the second time Iran’s highest judicial authority has denied a retrial for Ozdemir. His initial request was rejected in March 2025. Earlier, in September 2024, the Supreme Court had upheld his death sentence. Ozdemir was arrest…