Death Sentence of Azad Shojaei, Kurdish Porter from Sardasht, Upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court
4-June-2025
Category: Prisoners
4 June 2025
News Category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – The death sentence of Azad Shojaei, a prisoner held in Urmia Prison who was arrested on charges of “espionage for Israel,” has been upheld by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Ghasem Hosseini Kouhkamari.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Azad Shojaei, a 32-year-old cross border porter (kulbar) from the village of Doleh Germeh in Sardasht, was arrested in July 2023 along with Edris Ali and Rasoul Ahmad Mohammad by security forces. He was held for several months in solitary confinement. Reports state that Shojaei endured eight months of severe physical and psychological torture, ultimately leading to forced confessions against himself. These confessions included spying for Israel and involvement in transporting equipment related to the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Shojaei was sentenced to death in an unfair trial by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, presided over by Judge Ghorban Shahini, without access to a lawyer of his own choice. The confirmation of the death sentence by the Supreme Court has been formally communicated to his lawyer.
It is worth noting that Edris Ali and Rasoul Ahmad Mohammad, the other defendants in the same case, have also been sentenced to death by the same court.