{"id":1749,"date":"2021-06-15T17:22:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T17:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1749"},"modified":"2021-06-16T17:38:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T17:38:55","slug":"family-of-executed-wrestler-seeks-supreme-court-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1749","title":{"rendered":"Family of Executed Wrestler Seeks Supreme Court Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ghost of Navid Afkari Haunts Judiciary Chief\u2019s Election Bid<\/p><\/div>\n

June 15, 2021 \u2013 One week before Iranian Judiciary Chief\u00a0Ebrahim Raisi<\/a>\u00a0runs virtually uncontested for president, the family of\u00a0Navid Afkari<\/a>\u2014a wrestler who was executed under Raisi\u2019s watch\u2014has filed a supreme court petition seeking a\u00a0judicial review<\/a>\u00a0of the cases against him and his two brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of\u00a0Afkari\u2019s brothers<\/a>, who remain detained in connection to his case, are meanwhile being denied proper medical treatment despite having suffered severe injuries in state custody, according to their relatives. They have also been held in solitary confinement for nearly nine months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRaisi has been telling the Iranian people that he wants to fight corruption\u00a0while allowing injustice to reign supreme in courts and prisons as judiciary chief,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe deeply flawed cases against the Afkari brothers should be investigated through a fair and transparent judicial process,\u201d added Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Afkari family filed the petition with the Supreme Court on June 14 requesting that all three cases be reviewed.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days earlier, on June 10, Saeed Afkari\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that a medical examiner had confirmed that his brothers Vahid and Habib Afkari had been severely injured in state custody.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the opinion of the medical examiner, my brother Habib, during his detention in the intelligence office, suffered broken fingers and toes, a broken wrist that hasn\u2019t healed, and a ruptured shoulder, and my brother Vahid suffers from injuries to his neck and hand due to an attempted suicide in protest against physical and psychological torture. They have been in solitary confinement for 279 days and are still being denied treatment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Saeed Afkari also\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that his mother, father, other relatives, and activists were violently arrested by plainclothes agents as they gathered on June 12 in front of Abdelabad Prison in Shiraz where the brothers are held to mark the 280th day of Vahid and Habib\u2019s solitary confinements. The demonstrators were released after a few hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judiciary Chief Raisi is Responsible for Prisoner Safety<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

CHRI urges the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to allow Vahid and Habib Afkari to receive proper medical treatment and to free them until the start of their trial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judiciary Chief Raisi is ultimately responsible for the safety and security of all prisoners, including the unlawful and inhuman treatment of the Afkari brothers, the numerous acts of physical and psychological torture they\u2019ve sustained during detention, and their prolonged solitary confinement.<\/span><\/p>\n

CHRI condemns the lack of transparency and fairness in the flawed judicial process against the Afkari brothers and calls on judicial authorities to take transparent and lawful steps to investigate the allegations of torture, forced false \u201cconfessions,\u201d and prosecute the perpetrators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers Detained During Protests, Tortured, One Hanged<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Champion wrestler Navid Afkari, 27, was\u00a0hanged<\/a>\u00a0in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz in September 2020 after being accused of killing a security guard during street protests.<\/span><\/p>\n

He had previously filed a\u00a0complaint<\/a>\u00a0with the judiciary on September 13, 2019, alleging that he had been forced to provide false \u201cconfessions\u201d while being subjected to the \u201cmost severe physical and psychological torture\u201d during nearly 50 days in police detention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Navid Afkari, who has won several freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling medals in Iranian and international tournaments, and his brother Vahid Afkari were arrested in Shiraz on September 17, 2018. Their brother Habib Afkari was arrested three months later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Navid and Vahid Afkari were charged with \u201cwaging war against the state, corruption on earth and forming an anti-revolutionary group\u201d for participating in street protests that took place in the city at that time and for allegedly killing a security guard on August 2, 2018. The exact charges against Habib Afkari are unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Habib has been sentenced to 27.3 years in prison and Vahid to 25 years in prison. Both have also been sentenced to 74 lashes.<\/span><\/p>\n

In September 2020, Navid Afkari\u2019s lawyer told CHRI that security camera footage proved Navid could not have committed the murder.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a special\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0on June 17, 2021, BBC Persian Service revealed new documents indicating severe physical and psychological torture against the living Afkari brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pressures were so intense that Vahid Afkari attempted suicide after being assisted by Adelabad Prison officials who gave him a glass cup to cut his throat, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a recent\u00a0audio message<\/a>\u00a0smuggled out of prison, Vahid Afkari said he was tortured and fears he will also be executed. \u201cI can only depend on reason and the law,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way [to save my life]. People of Iran, I\u2019m innocent!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on Article 474 of Iran\u2019s\u00a0Code of Criminal Procedure<\/a>, judicial reviews may be requested after a sentence has been finalized, regardless of whether it has been carried out or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Article 474 specifies that the convicted person or her\/his lawyer can request a judicial review in various circumstances, including:<\/span><\/p>\n