Mashallah Karami, father of an executed Kurdish protester, sentenced to over eight years in prison and confiscation of his assets in a new case

Hengaw: Sunday, August 18, 2024

Mashallah Karami, the father of Mohammad Mehdi (Komar) Karami, one of the executed victims of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, has been sentenced to eight years and ten months in prison, confiscation of his assets and a fine by the Iranian judiciary in a new trial. He had previously been sentenced to five years in prison.

According to a report received by the human rights organization Hengaw, Mashallah Karami, the father of the executed protester, was sentenced by Branch 102 of the Nazarabad Criminal Court to eight years and ten months in prison, a fine of 1.9 billion tomans and confiscation of his assets on charges of “money laundering and acquisition of illegal property.”

In addition, according to informed sources, this grieving father was recently ordered by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to confiscate his assets, including a house in Takab and a Dena vehicle.

It is noteworthy that Mashallah Karami had previously been sentenced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court in Karaj to five years in prison for “assembly and collusion” and one year in prison for “acting against the government”.

His lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, commented on the seizure of the assets as follows: “The above-mentioned articles refer to the acquisition of assets through the commission of a crime or the use of assets in the commission of a crime, while these assets play no role in the charges of collusion, collusion or propaganda against the government.”

He added: “These assets were acquired through public donations or as a gift. People wanted to help Mr. Karami, who worked as a laborer, and donated these assets to him with generous and good intentions.”

On August 22, 2023, Mashallah Karami was arrested by security forces after his house was searched and his mobile phone and some other personal belongings were confiscated. He was eventually transferred to Karaj Central Prison.

Mohammad Mehdi Karami (Komar), a 21-year-old Kurdish youth from Bijar, was sentenced to death along with Mohammad Hosseini, another main defendant in the case known as the “murder” of Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij. After severe torture, their death sentences were both carried out at dawn on January 7, 2023. These two young men were arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.