Three Kurdish Prisoners Executed in Urmia on Charges of ‘Corruption on Earth’
25-June-2025
Category: executions
25 June 2025
News outlet: Executions –
Breathing in Confinement- At dawn on Wednesday, 25 June 2025, three Kurdish citizens—Idris Ali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul—were executed in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “efsad fel-arz” (corruption on Earth).
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, serious violations of these individuals’ rights were reported throughout the stages of arrest, interrogation, and trial. Citing Tasnim News Agency, the three were accused of collaborating with hostile foreign governments and smuggling equipment under the cover of alcohol transport to carry out terrorist operations—charges that were eventually linked to the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Reports indicate that the men were tried in secret and under pressure, without access to legal representation of their choice, and in courts closed to the public. Such proceedings violate international obligations, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to a fair and public trial and access to independent legal counsel.
These executions occurred amid heightened regional political and military tensions, particularly following recent Israeli airstrikes. In response, Iran’s judiciary has been accelerating the implementation of death sentences. Human rights organisations have expressed deep concern over the politicisation of judicial rulings and the instrumental use of capital punishment during times of crisis.
In the past few days alone, at least six individuals have been executed under similar charges, often justified under the pretext of “wartime conditions” and without adequate opportunities to mount a defence.
Annual Report on Executions in Iran
According to the annual report by the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 1,170 individuals were executed in Iran in 2024. Among them, six people were executed in public, and the executed also included 38 women and 9 juvenile offenders.