Iran set to Execute Kurdish Political Prisoner Ehsan Fattahian on November 11

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ehsanEhsan Fattahian’s lawyer, Nassrollah Nasri, was notified on November 6 that his client will be executed on Wednesday morning, November 11, 2009, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) reported today. Ehsan, 27, was arrested in July 2008 and first sentenced to 10 years in exile by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. During the appeals process his sentence was changed by Branch 4 of the Kordestan Appeal Court to execution for being an “enemy of God” (Mohareb), allegedly by being a member or PJAK (Kurdistan Independent Life Party). Despite undergoing torture, Ehsan refused to confess to carrying arms and participating in an armed struggle. His family maintains that he’s being persecuted for his Kurdish political activities. Ehsan’s interrogators tried to force him to make a false confession on tape, and he was often physically assaulted by guards in prison.

In response to the regime’s intention to execute him, Ehsan started a hunger strike on November 8, and his fellow Kurdish prisoners in the Central Sanandaj Prison began an open-ended hunger strike as well. In his last letter from Sanandaj Prison (originally published online by the Committee for the families of Kurdish Political Prisoners), Ehsan wrote:

I don’t want to talk about death; I want to question the reasons behind it. Today, when punishment is the answer for those who seek freedom and justice, how can one fear his fate? Those of “us” who have been sentenced to death by “them” are only guilty of seeking an opening to a better and fair world. Are “they” also aware of their deeds?

…

If the rulers and oppressors think that, with my death, the Kurdish question will go away, they are wrong. My death and the deaths of thousands of others like me will not cure the pain; they will only add to the flames of this fire. There is no doubt that every death is the beginning of a new life.

The Alliance for Kurdish Rights calls for the immediate release of Ehsan Fattahian, and all Kurdish political prisoners in Iran.

Petition to Secretary General of the U.N., Ban Ki-Moon: Save Ehsan Fattahian from execution
Amnesty Urgent Action Call: Iran: Halt Executions of Kurdish Prisoners
Defend International Appeal: Iran: Halt the Execution of Mr. Ehsan Fatahiyan
Azarmeh Assocation of Women of Kurdistan (Farsi)