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By united4iran.org:
Habibollah Latifi is a 29-year-old university student from Kurdistan who has been sentenced to death on the charge of Moharebeh (enmity with God). He is currently imprisoned at the Sanandaj Prison. Several sources have reported that Latifi has suffered from various illnesses, including an intestinal infection, heart problems and kidney failure.
Sources have told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Latifi’s sentence was based solely on confessions obtained under pressure and that no substantive evidence was presented to support the verdict. He was charged with Moharebeh for allegedly attacking a police station, planning the assassination of the Sanandaj prosecutor and setting off explosions. His family maintains that he was tortured in prison and coerced to confess to having committed crimes he absolutely denied after his trial.
Mr. Latifi’s niece has further rejected the claims that he had been involved in illegal political activities, and said she believes the case was “fabricated” by intelligence officials. Please send an e-letter pleading for the world authorities to work to ensure a permanent halt to his execution and fair legal proceedings.
There are currently at least 16 known Kurdish prisoners on death row, with many others in detention, facing severe and unjust sentences. Detained Kurdish minorities often face the Moharabeh charge — a politically motivated charge used as a “catch all” to inflict severe punishments. There was a loud public outcry by both his family and the international community during the holiday season in December 2010 when reports of Latifi’s execution were ‘confirmed’ for December 25. The outcry continued through the holiday season, with the international human rights community banding together to send more than 70,000 e-letters on behalf of Latifi to world, UN, and IRI officials .
Many lawyers, including that of Kurdish death row inmate Shirkoo Moarefi, have expressed concern over the risk of illegal executions, often carried out without informing the prisoner’s lawyer or family. One prominent Kurdish activist, Farzad Kamangar, faced similar circumstances. He was executed on Mother’s Day in May 2010 alongside four others, after being given a trial lasting only a few minutes. Iran’s Kurdish minorities face increasingly systematic persecution by being denied free expression and by being accused of association with armed groups. Such unsubstantiated claims, which can lead to the severe charge of Moharebeh, are increasingly used against activists as a means to ensure silence and deter dissent.
Radio Zamaneh reported in May that Iran’s Supreme Court had approved the death sentence for Habibollah Latifi.
Kurdish people continue to suffer, but one of the reasons is a lack of information or education. When a Kurd is put on trial in a city where the overwhelming majority are Kurds for being a Kurd, the Kurds should take a stand and protest.
What we have is the breaking of the Kurds from within. Otherwise why would Kurds remain silent in Sna?