Ghezelhesar Prison: To be executed, Ghasem Abesteh transferred to Solitary Confinement
4-November-2023
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، religious minorities
Ghezelhesar Prison: To be executed, Ghasem Abesteh transferred to Solitary Confinement
November 4, 2023
News Categories: Freedom of Speech – Execution – Religious Minorities – Ethnic Minorities –
Breathing in a Confinement: On Thursday, November 1, Ghasem Abesteh, a Sunni prisoner who has been under a death sentence for over 14 years, was transferred to solitary confinement in Ghezelhesar Prison for execution.
According to ‘Breathing in a Confinement,’ the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on Thursday, November 1, 2023, Ghasem Abesteh, a Kurdish Sunni prisoner, who has been in prison for more than 14 years under a death sentence, was moved to solitary confinement in Ghezelhesar Prison for the execution of his death sentence.
Reports received by ‘Breathing in a Confinement’ indicate that Ghasem Abesteh’s transfer to solitary confinement in Ghezelhesar Prison has raised concerns among his family members. They have been unaware of his situation in recent days.
Ghasem Abesteh was arrested in February 2010. In 2012, after spending 14 months in uncertain situation in the detention centers of Evin and Urmia, he was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. Finally, in August of the same year, he was moved to Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj.
He faced charges such as ‘waging war against God’ based on his alleged support for ‘Salafi groups,’ charges which he vehemently denied and called as baseless through an open letter.
In March 2016, Mr. Abesteh, along with six other Sunni prisoners, was sentenced to death at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran chaired by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh. This verdict was later overturned by Judge Ali Razini in the Supreme Court.
The case of these prisoners was ultimately referred for review to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, and their court sessions took place from June 17 to 19, 2019. Judge Abolqasem Salavati eventually reissued a death sentence for them, and the case was once again referred to Branch 41 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Ali Razini.
Finally, on February 3, 2020, Branch 41 of the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences for Anwar Khezri, Kamran Sheikhi, Farhad Salimi, Ghasem Abesteh, Khosrow Besharat, Ayoub Karimi, and Davood Abdullahi, seven Sunni prisoners held in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj.