Recently, Azerbaijani Turk activist Parviz Siabi was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Siabi was arrested amid the protests of July of this year in Tabriz, which was held in support of the nationwide Khuzestan protests.

Branch 1 of Ardabil Revolutionary Court sentenced 75-year-old resident of Ardabil Parviz Siabi Gorjan to 16 years in prison. He received one-year imprisonment on a charge of “propaganda against the regime via interviews with anti-regime media and posts on social media”, 10 years on a charge of “forming unlawful groups as an attempt to disrupt national security”, and finally 5 years on a charge of “membership in unlawful anti-regime groups”. Grounded on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, a severest punishment of 10 years is enforceable for him.

On Sunday, July 25, security forces arrested Siabi and detained him in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Ardabil. After 11 days, he was transferred to Ardabil Central Prison. On August 29, he was released on bail of 250 million tomans from Ardabil Prison.

Siabi had been arrested before for his civil activities. On September 29, 2020, security forces arrested him along with 7 other Azerbaijani Turk activists in an assembly in a park in Ardabil. On October 29 of that year, he was released on bail from Ardabil Central prison. In regards to this arrest, he was summoned to appear at Branch 10 of the Public and Revolutionary Court of Ardabil.