Iran executes Kurdish 'political prisoner'

Iran said it executed on Wednesday a Kurdish militant who had been convicted of killing a police officer, a move condemned by rights groups who called him a political prisoner.

"Arash Ahmadi, also known as Sarkot, a member of the Komala terrorist group, was executed this morning," Iranian state television said.

An Iranian Kurdish political prisoner was secretly executed in Kermanshah Central prison. Sarkut(Arash) Ahmadi from Ravansar was arrested 2 yrs ago when he was going to go to Europe after separating from Komala party of Iranian Kurdistan. #StopExecutionInIran #سرکوت_احمدی pic.twitter.com/JxNEKafmFL

— ARAM Iran (@ARAMalliance) February 22, 2023

It said Ahmadi, 29, had assassinated police major Hassan Maleki in Ravansar, a town in the western province of Kermanshah, in August 2018.

The channel showed videos of Ahmadi "confessing" that he had been behind the attack.

Such videos are common in Iran and are frequently condemned by rights groups, arguing that confessions are often forced and the result of torture.

Foreign-based rights groups said Ahmadi was arrested in early 2021 while attempting to flee overland to Europe after being convicted of the murder. He had always denied the charges.

Ahmadi was hanged on Wednesday morning at a prison in the western city of Kermanshah, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group, Kurdish-focused Hengaw group and Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network said in separate statements.

The execution was carried out in secret without his family being notified in advance, they added.

صبح امروز، چهارشنبه ۳ اسفند ماه، حکم #اعدام یک زندانی سیاسی کرد به‌نام سرکوت احمدی به صورت مخفیانه در زندان مرکزی #کرمانشاه به اجرا درآمد#اعدام_نکنید #بی_داری #مهسا_امینی https://t.co/I6FV6X7QmF pic.twitter.com/GoUb5ScEhU

— Iran Human Rights (IHR NGO) (@IHRights) February 22, 2023

A political activist, he had been a member of the Kurdish Komala political party, which pushes for greater autonomy for Iran's Kurdish minority but is banned as a terror group by Tehran, they said.

He had spent some time in neighbouring Iraq where Komala's leadership is based, before returning to Iran, the rights groups said.

"The execution of this Kurdish political prisoner was carried out without notifying the family and conducting a last meeting," IHR said.

Kurdistan Human Rights Network said, citing relatives, that Ahmadi had been "subjected to severe torture to accept the accusations against him and make forced confessions".

Iran executes more convicts every year than any nation other than China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

Campaigners have also accused Tehran of using the death penalty as a weapon to suppress the protests that erupted after the death of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.

It has already executed four men on charges related to the protests while IHR says 87 people have been executed so far in 2023 alone.

Amnesty said Wednesday that Iranian authorities had "forcibly disappeared" four Kurdish dissidents linked to Komala who were now at "grave risk" of unfair trials on charges that carry the death penalty.

The four men -- Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad Faramarzi and Mohsen Mazloum -- were arrested in July 2022 and are believed to be facing spying and terror charges.

Amnesty accused Iran of "concealing their fate and whereabouts from their families and lawyer since their arrests."