(25 November 2008) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker unfairly sentenced to death, will be hanged early on 26 November 2008. According to several reliable sources, he has been taken from his cell in ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison in preparation for execution.

The Campaign is appealing to Iranian judicial authorities to halt the execution, and asking members of the international community urgently to intervene. Kamangar (32), from the city of Kamyaran, was sentenced to death based on “absolutely zero evidence,” according to his lawyer.The Revolutionary Court prosecuted Kamangar on charges of membership in the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). The court issued a death sentence for Kamangar on February 25, 2008. Khalil Bahramian, Kamangar’s lawyer, has said: “Nothing in Kamangar’s judicial files and records demonstrates any links to the charges brought against him.”

Security forces detained Kamangar in July 2006, shortly after he arrived in Tehran from Kamyaran. The authorities originally investigated him in relation to two people he rode with during his trip to Tehran.

Kamangar was cleared of all charges during the investigation process. It is not clear why the prosecution decided to put him on trial on charges of membership in the PKK, given that it had presented no evidence.

For more information about Kamangar see:

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/farzad-kamangar/