IRAN. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS KURDISH JOURNALIST'S DEATH SENTENCE
November 9, 2007: Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence handed to Kurdish journalist Adnan Hassanpour for being an 'enemy of God'. The court referred the case of a second Kurdish journalist sentenced to death on the same charges, Hiwar Boutimar, to a tribunal of re-examination.
Boutimar and Hassanpour, who are cousins, were in July sentenced to death by an Iranian Revolutionary court. They wrote for the Kurdish-Farsi news magazine Asu (Waves) which was closed by the Iranian authorities in August 2005 following widespread unrest in Kurdish areas.
Hassanpour is an advocate of cultural rights for Iranian Kurds. Boutimar is an environmental activist. (Sources: AKI, 09/11/2007)
|