Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in...

Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in at least two of the cases, having contacts with outlawed political organisations, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement. It said Ramine Sharifi, 27, was sentenced on 7 September 2003 by a revolutionary court in Saghez, in the Kurdish-dominated north, for allegedly belonging to the Democratic Kurdistan Party of Iran, though it added that he had the right to appeal. Said Masouri, 38, had his June 2002 death sentence confirmed recently by an appeals court which heard that he had contacts with the People's Mujahedeen, an exiled opposition group. The FIDH said it had not been able to confirm the charges against the third man, Gholamhossein Kalbi, but noted that he was in the prison of Evin, on the same death row as Masouri. The FIDH and the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran said in the statement that they "called on Iranian authorities to guarantee these people the right to a fair trial" and renewed their appeal for a moratorium on capital punishment. They added that they also wanted the European Union to begin lobbying against the execution of the three.