Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner, a citizen of Turkey, was sentenced to death by Branch 3 of the Islamic Revolution Court of Urmia, headed by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of “warfare”. He was previously sentenced to death by the first branch of the Islamic Revolution Court of Urmia on the charge of “treason”, but this sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court in March 2023.
According to Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the court session of this political prisoner was held on April 23rd in Branch 3 of the Islamic Revolution Court of Urmia, and on Sunday, May 19th, the death sentence was officially announced to him in Urmia prison.
On July 2, 2019, Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish citizen of Turkey, was caught in an ambush by the forces of the “Hamze Seyed al-Shohada” base of the Urmia Revolutionary Guards Corps in the border areas of Chaldaran, West Azerbaijan Province. During the shooting and shelling in this area, Hatem Ozdemir was unconscious due to being hit by a mortar bullet, and after being arrested, he was first transferred to the detention center of the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization in Urmia, and after being interrogated and tortured for about 50 days, on August 19, 2019, he was transferred to The central prison of this city was transferred.
In March 2022, after 33 months of temporary detention, this political prisoner was sentenced to death and 5 years of imprisonment by the first branch of the Khoi Islamic Revolution Court on the charges of “treason” and “membership in a terrorist group” . After he protested the verdict, the case was referred to the Supreme Court for appeal.
In March 2023, the death sentence of Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner, was overturned by the ninth branch of the Supreme Court and referred to the parallel branch of the Islamic Revolution Court of Urmia, i.e. branch 3, for re-examination.
Hatem Ozdemir, who has been suffering from kidney stone disease for several years, is still denied access to medical and treatment services, despite doctors’ advice and ultrasound to perform surgery.