Iran Upholds Death Sentence of Kurdish Prisoner for Third Time

The Supreme Court of Iran has upheld the death sentence of Nasser Bakrzadeh, a Kurdish political prisoner held in Urmia Central Prison, for the third time. Following the notification of the verdict, the political prisoner was reportedly beaten in the prison’s enforcement office.

According to the human rights organization Hengaw, on Saturday, April 25, 2026, Nasser Bakrzadeh was summoned to the enforcement office of Urmia Central Prison, where the final death sentence issued by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court was communicated to him. He had previously been sentenced to death by the Second Branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court on charges of “espionage for Israel.”

The report states that during the notification of the verdict, the official in charge of the enforcement office threatened the political prisoner with the imminent execution of the sentence. It is said that, in response to these threats and the judicial process, Bakrzadeh was subjected to insults and severe physical assault by this official. Hengaw reported that the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence just ten days after the case was referred back to it, even though the same court had previously overturned the sentence twice due to legal flaws and a lack of documentation.

According to Sidad Shirzad, one of the lawyers on the case, the Second Branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court issued the death sentence for the third time without addressing the technical flaws pointed out by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court or considering the legal arguments presented.

Nasser Bakrzadeh, 26, from Urmia, was first arrested on August 9, 2023, and released after some time. He was arrested again on January 2, 2024, by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and held in the “Al-Mahdi” detention center, where he was pressured to provide forced confessions. According to the report, he was denied access to a lawyer and family visits throughout the interrogation period. The prisoner had previously been sentenced to death by the Third Branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court in November 2024 on the charge of “espionage for Israel,” a verdict that was also overturned by the Supreme Court and referred to an equivalent branch.