Kurdish and Iranian social media activists circulated news of Iranian authorities executing a prominent Kurdish political activist a few days ago. They accused The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK of handing him over to Iran which resulted in his death.
According to informed and unofficial sources, #MustafaSalimi has been handed over to the Islamic Republic's forces by the Sulaymaniyah Asayish Forces, and then hanged this morning.
— Iran True (@iran_true) April 11, 2020
Read what IR regime has done to him for YRS!#IranTruth #IRPrisonsMassacrehttps://t.co/83PzKNyxIt
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, Mustafa Salimi was held in Saqqez Prison a few days after he escaped his earlier imprisonment, during the 27th of March riots amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Salimi, who had been arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in jail, was re-arrested and was reportedly hanged in Saqqez Prison last Saturday.
#MustafaSalimi was turned over to Iran by PUK security forces! and then hanged by IRGC! A crime against humanity!
— IranBehtar (@BehtarIran) April 12, 2020
IR regime is distorting facts but we won't let them! They're exposed!#TerrorismByIRGCandPUK pic.twitter.com/JgLOHH3rf4
Kurdish activists have pointed fingers at PUK for handing Salimi back to Iranian officials, accusing them of working for the Iranian government instead of supporting the Kurdish people.
On 10th April 2020, Saqqez prison officials contacted the family of 52-year-old #MustafaSalimi who has been in Islamic Republic’s prisons for 18 years without a day off, sentenced to death. They have been asked to go to the prison for their last visit. #IranianPrisonersRights https://t.co/ENAL80qfzI
— RDVille (@villeaujourdui) April 10, 2020
PUK is an Iranian regime agent clan that works for Iranian mullahs and Shia in Iraq. They do anything to stop Kurds.
— Ahmed Guli (@AhmedGuli2) April 11, 2020
On their website, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has urged the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights to condemn Salimi's death, calling on the UN Security Council and the European Union to take serious action to force Iran to release thousands of political detainees during the pandemic to protect their lives.
Rebellious Prisoner Mostafa Salimi Hanged in Saqqez, #Iran - NCRI https://t.co/jsvfsb5YL0 @NCIRUS @statedeptspox
— Ali Safavi (@amsafavi) April 11, 2020
Iran had announced the release of 85,000 prisoners last month, citing attempts to limit the spread of COVID-19 which has killed more than 4k people so far, according to official figures.
