Zhinoo Mokri

A Tehran court convicted three Kurdish activists, Farhad Vakili, Farzad Kamangar, and Ali ‎Heidarian, to death on charges of "acting against national security" and "moharebeh" [armed ‎opposition to the state]. ‎

On Monday morning a judge at the 30th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court found three ‎Kurdish citizens, Farhad Vakili, Farzad Kamangar, and Ali Heidarian, who have spent the past ‎‎17 months in prison, guilty of "acting against national security" through "planning a bombing," ‎and convicted all three to death. Ali Heidarian and Farhad Vakili each received an additional 10 ‎years imprisonment sentence for "forging birth certificates." ‎

Prior to his arrest, Kamangar worked as a teacher in the city of Kamyaran, where he served on ‎the governing board of the local branch of the teachers' association. Kamangar was also active in ‎a number of civil society organizations. It has been reported that Farhad Vakili was a mid-‎ranking manager at Sanandaj's Jahad-e Sazandegi [government ministry in charge of developing ‎rural villages] and Ali Heidarian was a member of a political party opposed to the Islamic ‎Republic. Intelligence officers arrested all three activists in Tehran 17 months ago. After being ‎tortured and interrogated for an extended time in prisons in Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Tehran, ‎all three were transferred to the infamous Rajaishahr prison in the city of Karaj. ‎

Human rights organizations reported earlier that Farzad Kamangar was severely tortured to ‎confess to charges that he and the other two activists were planning a major bombing campaign ‎in a city in Iran. Kamangar's family insists that he refused to confess to any of the charges. ‎

Several months ago Farzad Kamangar issued a statement from the Rajaishahr prison chronicling ‎the tortures inflicted on him at detention facilities in Sanandaj, Kermanshah, and Evin prison to ‎force him into "admitting guilt." ‎