Iran must halt execution of Kurdish prisoner: UN rights experts

Geneva : The imminent execution of an Iranian Kurdish prisoner must be halted and his death sentence repealed, UN-appointed independent human rights experts said on Friday.
Their appeal follows serious concerns that Heidar Ghorbani did not receive a fair trial and was tortured during pre-trial detention.
He was arrested in October 2016 in connection with the alleged killing of three men affiliated to Basij paramilitary forces and no information was provided to Ghorbani’s family on his whereabouts until three months later.
In a statement, the rights experts said that they were “seriously concerned” that the 48-year old’s confession was forced as a result of torture and ill-treatment.
They also expressed concerns that he had been denied access to a lawyer during the investigation, and that later his attorney did not have full access to his case file during the trial.
“Allegations of torture and confessions extracted under duress are extremely concerning, as is the fact that these allegations did not lead to any investigation and appear not to have been considered by the Court during his trial”, the experts said.