“On 25 February 2008, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Farzad Kamangar to death on charges of “endangering national security” and “enmity against God” (moharebe). The death penalty was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 11 July. “

What was his crime?

1.Being Kurdish.

2. A former member of a teacher’s union (Iran has outlawed trade unions.
3. And a human rights activist.

Farzad Kamangar was scheduled to be executed today, but thankfully wasn’t. According to International Campaign For Human Rights In Iran (ICHRI), he was spared, for now. But that means nothing, since 10 others (including a woman) were hanged today. It is still very likely that Kamangar will be killed; in a country that, 2nd to China, has the highest number of executions in the world.

Kamangar wrote a long letter, from prison, describing how he was arrested, and the hideous ways he has been tortured while in jail:

In July of 2006 I came to Tehran to follow upon my brother’s medical treatments. My brother is a Kurdish political activist. Upon my arrival in Tehran I was arrested and taken to an unknown place, it was a very small, dark basement. The cells in this place were empty, there were no blankets or rugs or sheets.

They took me to a room and as they were interviewing me they asked me about my ethnicity. When I told them that I was of the Kurdish Ethnicity they lashed my entire body. They also lashed me because of the Kurdish music which I had saved on my mobile phone. They would tie my hands, make me sit on a chair and put pressure on the sensitive areas of my body. They would also strip me naked and threaten me with rape by various objects such as wood.

From what I have read, his trial was a joke. According to Khalil Bahramian, Farzad’s lawyer:

“Nothing in Kamangar’s judicial files and records demonstrates any links to the charges brought against him.” He described the trial as “lasting no more than five minutes, with the judge issuing his sentence without any explanation and then promptly leaving the room.” {snip}the closed-door trial violated the Iranian legal requirements that such cases must be tried publicly and in the presence of a jury.

The whole situation is a travesty of justice. Please take a moment to send an email to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking that Kamangar get a fair trial. His email is: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir.
Or you can also send an email via the Education International website by clicking here. They have a pre-written letter.

Please save the life of an innocent man.