In a post on X earlier today, Amir Raesian, a lawyer and human rights defender, wrote that while he was pursuing a retrial request and preparing to file a new motion to halt the execution of his client, Naser Bakerzadeh, Mizan News Agency reported that the sentence had already been carried out.
Iran’s judiciary announced on Saturday, May 2, that Naser Bekrzadeh and Yaghoub Karimpour, two prisoners convicted in security-related cases, had been executed. According to the official statement, Bekrzadeh was executed on the charge of “corruption on earth” through alleged cooperation with Mossad, while Karimpour was executed on charges of intelligence cooperation and espionage for Israel.
Raesian, Bekrzadeh’s lawyer, said Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had previously overturned his client’s death sentence twice. However, on April 19, the same branch upheld the third death sentence issued by the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, despite the earlier objections reportedly remaining unresolved.
According to Raesian, the decision was notified to the lawyers on April 25, and they immediately filed a request for retrial. After the request was referred to Branch 9 of the Supreme Court, that branch issued an order to halt the execution in the final administrative hours of April 26 and notified the Enforcement of Judgments Office in Urmia.
Raesian also said that on April 30, Bekrzadeh called from prison and said he had been summoned by prison officials. Around the same time, the lawyers discovered that their access to the case file had been restricted in Sana, Iran’s judicial electronic notification system.
The sequence of events, including the Supreme Court’s two previous reversals, the issuance of a stay of execution, the restriction of lawyers’ access to the case file, and the rapid execution following the rejection of the retrial request, raises serious questions about transparency in the proceedings and the effective right of access to legal counsel.
@iranhrdc
#DigitalBlackoutIran
#iran_strikes
#iran_human_rights
#iranmassacre
#nasser_bakrzadeh
#yaghoub_Karimpour
Iran’s judiciary announced on Saturday, May 2, that Naser Bekrzadeh and Yaghoub Karimpour, two prisoners convicted in security-related cases, had been executed. According to the official statement, Bekrzadeh was executed on the charge of “corruption on earth” through alleged cooperation with Mossad, while Karimpour was executed on charges of intelligence cooperation and espionage for Israel.
Raesian, Bekrzadeh’s lawyer, said Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had previously overturned his client’s death sentence twice. However, on April 19, the same branch upheld the third death sentence issued by the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, despite the earlier objections reportedly remaining unresolved.
According to Raesian, the decision was notified to the lawyers on April 25, and they immediately filed a request for retrial. After the request was referred to Branch 9 of the Supreme Court, that branch issued an order to halt the execution in the final administrative hours of April 26 and notified the Enforcement of Judgments Office in Urmia.
Raesian also said that on April 30, Bekrzadeh called from prison and said he had been summoned by prison officials. Around the same time, the lawyers discovered that their access to the case file had been restricted in Sana, Iran’s judicial electronic notification system.
The sequence of events, including the Supreme Court’s two previous reversals, the issuance of a stay of execution, the restriction of lawyers’ access to the case file, and the rapid execution following the rejection of the retrial request, raises serious questions about transparency in the proceedings and the effective right of access to legal counsel.
@iranhrdc
#DigitalBlackoutIran
#iran_strikes
#iran_human_rights
#iranmassacre
#nasser_bakrzadeh
#yaghoub_Karimpour