Kurdish political prisoner Habibollah Golparipour transferred to undisclosed location; at risk of imminent execution

(16 March 2012) – The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) has received reports that yesterday Habibollah Golparipour—a Kurdish political prisoner on death row—was transferred from Orumieh central prison to an undisclosed location by Iranian intelligence forces. Golparipour has faced execution ever since his death sentence was approved by Iran’s Supreme Court last year.

Golparipour was arrested and charged with “Moharebeh” (enmity against God) in the fall of 2009 and cooperation with PJAK—a Kurdish nationalist party banned in Iran. While Golparipour accepts the charge that he cooperated with PJAK, he strongly denies having been armed at the time of his arrest.

In an IHRDC interview from last December, Habibollah Golparipour’s father, Nasser Golparipour, also rejected the accusations that his son was armed. IHRDC has not been able to contact Golparipour’s attorneys but sources confirm that every possible legal step to stop the execution has been exhausted but to no avail.