Iran Executes Kurdish Prisoner Convicted of Killing Cleric Despite Transparency Concerns

Iran has executed Kamran Sheikheh, an Iranian Kurdish prisoner convicted of killing a cleric, despite concerns over the transparency of his trial. Sheikheh was hanged in a prison in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, on July 25, after spending almost 15 years in jail.

Sheikheh was the last of seven people convicted of and executed for the September 2008 killing of Abdolrahim Tina, a congregational prayer leader in Sheikheh's hometown of Mahabad. All seven people were executed in the last eight months, according to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, had raised concerns over the fairness of the trials, citing claims of torture and lack of transparency. The suspects were accused of being Salafists, an ultraradical sect under Sunni Islam, in addition to murder.

In an open letter, Sheikheh and the other six suspects denied all charges and alleged that they were subjected to various forms of torture, including mock executions, sleep deprivation, and being hung from the ceiling.

The execution brings the total number of people executed in Iranian prisons this year to at least 286, according to Iran Human Rights. Amnesty International reported that Iran carried out 853 executions in 2023, with at least 481 executions for narcotics convictions.

Amnesty has accused the Islamic republic of "weaponizing the death penalty" to target "protesters, dissidents, and members of oppressed ethnic minorities" and called for "a robust global response" to pressure Tehran to implement a moratorium on the death penalty.