Fifth Day of Complete Silence on the Whereabouts of Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydranlou; Continued Silence from Authorities and Grave Risk of Execution
As of April 20, 2025, five days have passed since Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydranlou, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death, was transferred by security forces to an undisclosed location. His family and lawyers remain completely unaware of his whereabouts or condition. Despite repeated inquiries, officials at Urmia Prison, the Revolutionary Court, and the Prosecutor’s Office have failed to provide any clarification.
According to a source cited by Kurdpa, Hamid Hosseinnezhad was transferred on the evening of April 16 by security forces to an unknown location. All subsequent attempts by his family and legal representatives to gain information from judicial authorities, Urmia prison staff, and the Revolutionary Court have yielded no results. The only response they’ve received from prison officials has been: “He was taken away from here, but we don’t know where.”
Under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which Iran has signed) and core principles of criminal procedure, the failure to inform a detainee’s family and legal counsel of their location and condition constitutes enforced disappearance and a severe violation of human rights.
This situation persists even as:
The Supreme Court has, in breach of the principles of a fair trial, refused to review his appeal.
The death sentence was issued unjustly, without relying on proper evidence or legal documentation.
Confessions broadcast by state media—obtained under severe torture and coercion—hold no legal validity.
Hamid Hosseinnezhad’s family and lawyers have been completely deprived of their rights to visit him, to be informed of his detention conditions, and to submit requests for clemency or retrial.
Meanwhile, his family has been staging a sit-in for four consecutive days in front of Urmia Central Prison, demanding recognition of his innocence and the halt of the execution order. Yesterday, during an attempt to approach the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, government forces denied them entry into the building.
At the same time, Ronahi Hosseinnezhad, daughter of the political prisoner, has strongly condemned the broadcast of her father’s forced confessions in several recent videos. She stressed that “My father is innocent, he was tortured, and he was in Turkey on the day of the incident.” Speaking with a tearful voice, she called on international organizations, the United Nations, and human rights bodies to be the voice of her family and take urgent action to save her father’s life.
The family and legal team of Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydranlou have declared that, in light of existing official documents, legal appeals, violations of due process, and torture-based confessions, they demand an immediate halt to the execution and a retrial in an independent and impartial court.
