Iran arrests lawyer of Iranian Kurd activist on death-row

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The lawyer of an Iranian Kurdish man on death row was arrested on Sunday in the country’s Sanandaj (Sina) city in Kurdistan Province, a source told Kurdistan 24.

Hussein Ahmadi Niyaz was arrested by the Islamic Republic’s authorities when he visited the city’s Courthouse to look into the case of his client, Ramin Hossein Panahi.

Niyaz, describing Panahi’s case as “illegal,” has been the young Kurd’s sole defender after his arrest last year where he was later sentenced to death in January by an Iranian court in Sina for “taking up arms against the state.”

Panahi's conviction was based on claims he is a member of the armed Kurdish opposition group Komala. However, no evidence was presented that link him to the crimes he was charged with, which include murder.

In April, Iran’s Supreme Court approved the sentence.

“Ramin is truly an innocent boy, with his only alleged crime being a member in Komala,” Niyaz said of his client during an interview with Kurdistan 24 in early-July.

The location of the lawyer is unknown after his arrest.

According to a Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) report released on Wednesday, Panahi’s relatives worry his chances of imminent execution have increased after several Iranian security forces were killed by armed wings of anti-regime parties in July.