IRAN CONFIRMS 2 KURDISH REPORTERS SENTENCED TO DEATH

July 31, 2007: Iran's judiciary for the first time confirmed that two Iranian Kurdish journalists have been sentenced to death for being "enemies of God."
Rights groups had reported that Adnan Hosseinpour and Abdolvahed "Hiwa" Boutimar were sentenced to death July 16 by a revolutionary court in Marivan, in Iran's northeastern Kordestan province.
"Botimar and Hassanpour have been sentenced to hanging on the charge of being mohareb," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters, using a Koranic legal term that is usually translated as "enemy of God."
He added that he was unable to confirm whether the sentence had been validated by the supreme court.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the two journalists wrote for the magazine Aso (Horizons), before it was banned in August 2005.
Hassanpour published several articles on local politics and gave interviews to foreign media including Voice of America while Botimar was also a member of the environmental NGO Sabzchia, RSF said. (Sources: Middle East Times, 31/07/2007)