Amnesty International – Saman Naseem Beaten, Days from Execution
17-February-2015
Category: Prisoners
Amnesty International – Iranian juvenile offender Saman Naseem was beaten to force him to make more TV “confessions” on 15 February. He is scheduled to be executed on 19 February for crimes he is accused of having committed when he was 17 years old.
Saman Naseem called his family on 15 February and told them that earlier that day men in plain clothes had taken him to the security department of the Oroumieh Prison. He said the men, who he believed belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and were carrying cameras and recording equipment, beat him for several hours to force him into making video-taped “confessions”, but he refused to do so.
Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013.
Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours.