Iranian-Kurdish political detainee Naeb Askari has again been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Urmia after the charge against him was changed to armed rebellion from an initial conviction for "enmity against God" that he appealed.
The human rights watchdog HRANA said on October 23 that the conviction was based on Askari's affiliation with a Kurdish political party, .
Under Iran's Penal Code, individuals accused of armed action against the Islamic republic can be classified as rebels.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network added that its sources said the case pertained to allegations of his involvement in the 2014 injury of Mostafa Soltani, a Kurdish commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Soltani, having suffered critical injuries from an altercation with members of the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), eventually succumbed to complications from COVID-19 in early 2021.
Soltani's family, with the backing of the IRGC, lodged a complaint against Askari saying he played a pivotal role in the clash that severely injured Soltani. They added that his eventual death was the direct result of the injuries he sustained, saying it weakened him.
Prior to his recent arrest in early 2021, Askari had lived in the Kurdistan region for several years. His return to Iran proper was made possible after he secured a "safe conduct pass" following discussions with the IRGC's intelligence organization.
After his arrest, the same intelligence organization disclosed that Askari had previously faced a death sentence. In 2018, he was accused in absentia by the same court of being affiliated with the PJAK, a charge tantamount to "waging war against God" in Iranian jurisprudence.
The PJAK, an outlawed group seeking self-governance for Iran's Kurds and with known links to Turkey's militant Kurdistan Workers Party, operates in the northern border area alongside other armed Kurdish groups.