Death-row political prisoner Shaker Behrouz is innocent. More than 10 witnesses are prepared to testify in his favor.
Political prisoner Shaker Behrouz is a death-row prisoner detained in the Central Prison of Urmia. The First Branch of the Penal Court in Urmia summoned him for a case in which he is accused of killing a member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Shaker Behrouz received an instruction on Saturday, October 24, indicating that his hearing will be held on November 17, 2020.
The Revolutionary Court of Urmia sentenced Mr. Behrouz to death in September.
Human rights groups say Shaker Behrouz’s neighbors had a son who was an IRGC member but was murdered some time ago. Security forces have apparently pressured and threatened the family to file a complaint against Mr. Behrouz and accuse him of murdering their son.
The family, however, have declared that they do not have any complaints about Mr. Behrouz and do not believe that he had killed their son. They further said that they would not testify in any court against an innocent person.
Shaker Behrouz has more than ten witnesses who can testify that he was in his shop at the time of murder and not at the site of murder. All of these witnesses have written letters declaring their readiness to testify under oath on the innocence of Behrouz Shaker.
Shaker Behrouz was arrested in September 2018 by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. He was released from prison after 14 days and completion of his interrogations. On March 1, 2019, security forces arrested him on the charge of membership in one of Kurdish parties. On March 30, they transferred him from the detention center of the Intelligence Department of Urmia to the Central Prison of Urmia.
In April 2019, Mr. Behrouz was returned to the Intelligence Department’s detention center. In March 2020, he was returned to the Central Prison of Urmia and held in a ward called “Talash.” After the outbreak of the coronavirus and after 14 days of detention in Talash ward, and 4 days of detention in the Safe Ward of Urmia Prison, he was transferred to the ward of political prisoners on March 27, 2020.
The Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia sentenced him in a 3-minute trial to 5 years in prison for membership in a Kurdish party.
Shaker Behrouz was subsequently sentenced to death for membership in a Kurdish Party opposing the regime and murder of an IRGC member. The court informed Mr. Behrouz’s lawyer of the verdict on September 10, 2020.
