IRAN: DEATH PENALTY OVERTURNED AGAINST TWO IRANIAN KURDS

Iran overturned the death penalty sentence against two Kurdish Iranians, the Amir Kabir University of Technology website reported, citing the defendants’ lawyer. The two men, Anvar Hossein Panahi and Arsalan Oliya’i, were sentenced to one and five years in jail, respectively, for “propaganda against the state” and “support” for the Kurdish Komala Party. Mohammad Saleh Nikbakht said that Branch 4 of the Appeals Court of Kurdistan Province, in western Iran, reversed the death sentence against his clients after dropping the charges of “moharebeh” [waging war against God] and “accomplice to murder”. The two men were first sentenced to death on 12 July 2008 by a Revolution Court in Sanandaj, in Kurdistan Province.