Iran's Supreme Court has rejected the request for a retrial of Hatem Özdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner with Turkish citizenship, upholding his death sentence.

Özdemir was sentenced to death in May 2024 by Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh (Urmia) presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). In September 2024, Branch Nine of the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported that in recent days, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court rejected the appeal submitted by Özdemir’s defence lawyer, which sought to overturn the death sentence and allow a retrial.

The lower court’s ruling has now been upheld in its entirety, putting Özdemir at imminent risk of execution.

The decision comes despite legal arguments presented by Özdemir’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, who highlighted numerous inconsistencies in the case.

In his appeal, Nikbakht cited forensic reports confirming that Özdemir had not used a weapon, his own statements, the circumstances of his arrest, the objectives of the organisation to which he is accused of belonging (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)) and other evidence, arguing that the charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi) and “enmity against God” (moharebeh) were legally unfounded and that the death sentence should be overturned to allow for a retrial.

Background

On 2 July 2019, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces from the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada base in Orumiyeh ambushed a group of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members, including Özdemir, in the border areas of Chaldoran, West Azerbaijan Province.

Özdemir was knocked unconscious by a mortar shell during the shooting and shelling of the area.

Following his arrest, he was taken to the IRGC Intelligence Organisation’s detention facility in Orumiyeh, where he endured approximately 50 days of interrogation and torture before being transferred to the city’s central prison on 19 August 2019.

In March 2022, after 33 months of detention without legal representation, Özdemir was sentenced to death and five years in prison by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Khoy on charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi) and “membership of a terrorist group”.

The case was referred to the Supreme Court following his appeal against the verdict.

After appealing the verdict, the Supreme Court’s Ninth Branch overturned the death sentence in March 2023 and referred the case for reconsideration to a parallel branch in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, namely Branch Three.

Özdemir’s next trial was held on 23 April 2024, in Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh).

The court again sentenced him to death, and the verdict was officially communicated to him in Orumiyeh prison on 19 May 2024.

Despite suffering from kidney stones for several years, Özdemir has been denied medical treatment and surgery, contrary to doctors’ recommendations and an ultrasound diagnosis indicating the need for surgical intervention.