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IRAN - Political Prisoner Ruhollah Korki Sentenced to Death
May 24, 2026: May 24, 2026 - IRAN. Political Prisoner Ruhollah Korki Sentenced to Death
‘Justice-Seeking Family’
Ruhollah Korki, a political prisoner held in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison, has been sentenced to death by the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court. He is the brother of Amin Korki, a December 2017–January 2018 protester who was killed under suspicious circumstances shortly after being released from prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Korki was informed on 24 May 2026 that he had been sentenced to death. He was indicted on 28 January 2026 on charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and moharebeh (enmity against God) under Article 6 of the Law on Countering Israeli Actions Against Peace and Security. The authorities accused him of intelligence collaboration with Israel and contact with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Ruhollah Korki, a 47-year-old father and electrical engineer with a master’s degree in architecture, was arrested on 3 August 2025. For nearly three months, he was held incommunicado at an unofficial detention facility, where he was subjected to physical and psychological torture to extract self-incriminating confessions. His wife and child were also arrested to exert additional pressure on him.
A source told IHR: "Ruhollah vehemently denied these baseless charges and refused to sign or make any confessions despite the torture and threats of execution. His family have also been under immense pressure."
Ruhollah was denied access to legal counsel until the day of his trial, which took place approximately ten days before he was notified of the verdict. He now has a statutory 20-day window to contest the ruling before the sentence becomes final.
According to informed sources: "On the day of the trial, Ruhollah was reassured that he would be receiving a custodial sentence by the lawyer, but the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) interfered and demanded the death penalty."
Ruhollah is one of four family members to have been arrested since the suspicious death of his brother, Amin Korki. The judicial harassment of families seeking justice is a long-standing practice, with documented cases dating back to the first decade of the Islamic Republic’s rule.
Following the December 2017–January 2018 nationwide protests, 31-year-old Amin Korki was targeted by security forces in Dezful, Khuzestan Province. Accused of leading protests and tearing down images of the Islamic Republic's leaders, he was detained without a lawyer until his release on bail in mid-March 2018. Just weeks later, on 30 March 2018, his body was discovered in a half-built structure under highly suspicious circumstances. Although authorities claimed he had died of a drug overdose, tests by the Khuzestan Forensic Medical Organisation explicitly ruled out the presence of narcotics in his system. With the official cause of death left as "undetermined," the judiciary officially closed the investigation in April 2019 without holding anyone accountable.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/8772/ (Source: IHR)
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