Kurdish Man Executed In Iran After Serving Nearly 14 Years In Prison, Rights Group Says

Human rights media reported on November 5 that Sunni prisoner Qasem Abatebeh has been executed after serving nearly 14 years in a prison in the Iranian city of Karaj, west of Tehran. The Human Rights Activists News Agency said the Kurdish man was sentenced to death in June 2019, along with six other defendants, for "corruption in the Islamic Republic of Iran." Abatebeh had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer during his imprisonment and repeatedly went on hunger strikes as a sign of protest. The UN this month said Iran has been carrying out executions “at an alarming rate,” with at least 419 people executed in the first seven months of 2023. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.