Iran’s Supreme Court overturns death sentence of Kurdish man accused of ‘espionage for Israel’
The case is now expected to be referred to another branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh for a retrial.
Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of Nasser Bekrzadeh, a 25-year-old Kurdish man from Orumiyeh, who had been sentenced to death on espionage charges, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.
His lawyer, Amir Raeisian, announced the Supreme Court’s decision on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying: “The death sentence of Mr Nasser Bekrzadeh, which had been issued by Branch One of the [Islamic] Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, was overturned during the appeal process by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court.”
Raeisian explained that the case is now expected to be referred to another branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh for a retrial.
Explaining the legal process, he said: “We are now awaiting the referral of the case to another branch of the [Islamic] Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh for a retrial. Mr Bekrzadeh is a 25-year-old man who was working in Orumiyeh for a foreign employer in the tourism sector. The security services pursued legal action against him on suspicion that he had sent confidential information and classified documents to foreign nationals linked to the Zionist regime. In November last year, Mr Bekrzadeh was sentenced to death on charges of espionage for the Zionist regime. Following our request for appeal, the case was referred to Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, which subsequently overturned the death sentence.”
Bekrzadeh was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Orumiyeh on 9 August 2023.
After a few weeks, he was temporarily released under a deal to cooperate with Iran’s security services.
However, he was re-arrested by IRGC Intelligence on 2 January 2024 and held for several months in the IRGC’s Al-Mahdi base detention centre in Orumiyeh before being transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison.
His trial took place on 2 November 2024 in Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, where he was sentenced to death on charges of “espionage for Israel”.
Following an appeal submitted by his defence team, the Supreme Court’s Branch 39 overturned the death sentence and referred the case for retrial to another court of equal authority.
