Prolonged Detention and Hunger Strike: Pouria Javaheri’s Case in Sanandaj Prison

Pouria Javaheri, a resident of Kamyaran and one of those arrested during the 2022 nationwide protests in Iran, remains in Sanandaj Prison more than 25 months after his arrest. Frustrated by the lack of resolution in his case, he has started a hunger strike to protest his prolonged detention.

Mustafa Ahmadian, Mr. Javaheri’s lawyer, announced: “My client, Pouria Javaheri, has gone on a hunger strike to protest his extended pre-trial detention in Sanandaj Prison.”

Mr. Javaheri was arrested on November 29, 2022, after being summoned by the IRGC Intelligence office in Kamyaran. Following his arrest, he was held in Kamyaran Prison until late February 2023, before being transferred to Sanandaj Prison in early September 2023.

In early 2023, the Chief Justice of Kurdistan Province publicly announced that Mr. Javaheri had been charged with “moharebeh” (enmity against God). By August 2023, his case had been referred to Branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, where he now faces multiple allegations, including “moharebeh through the intentional killing of a military officer,” “membership in opposition groups,” “propaganda against the regime,” and “intentional assault on several security officers.”

Teacher Hamid Azizi Arrested in Kamyaran

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, Hamid Azizi, a rural school teacher in Kamyaran, was arrested after being summoned to the security office of the Kamyaran Department of Education and transferred to an undisclosed location.

Kurdpa’s report states that Mr. Azizi was arrested after being summoned to the security office of the Department of Education in Kamyaran and taken to an unknown location. Despite his family’s efforts, they have been unable to obtain any information about his fate, and four days after his detention, his whereabouts remain unknown.

The reasons for his arrest and the charges against him have not yet been disclosed.

Hamid Azizi is a PhD graduate in Communications and Media Studies from Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran and a teacher in two villages in Kamyaran County.

Ten Poeple Arrested by Security Forces in Kamyaran

On Wednesday, July 24, Hesam Mahdi, Amir Nadimi, Farideh Vaisi, Hamid Sabzeh, Amanj Ghorbani, and Farzin Movafaghi, along with four other citizens, were arrested in Kamyaran and transfered to an undisclosed location, according to Kolbar News. The arrest took place during the funeral of Esmaeil Karimi, a forest ranger who was fatally injured while extinguishing the fire in Kamyaran.

The identities of six of them have been reported as “Hesam Mahdi, Amir Nadimi, Farideh Vaisi, Hamid Sabzeh, Amanj Ghorbani, and Farzin Movafaghi.”

According to the report, the arrest of these citizens occurred during the funeral of Esmaeil Karimi, a natural resources officer. Karimi was injured in a fire incident in the village of Kani Gisheh, Kamyaran County, on Monday, July 22, and was transferred to Kosar Hospital in Sanandaj. He passed away the previous day due to the severity of his burns, which covered eighty percent of his body.

No information is available yet about the whereabouts and charges against these detained citizens.

Among these individuals, Farideh Vaisi, Amir Nadimi, Amanj Ghorbani, and Farzin Movafaghi have previously been arrested and faced judicial actions.

 

Feyzollah Shadi Arrested by Security Forces in Kamyaran

Feyzollah Shadi, a resident of Kamyaran, Kurdistan province, was arrested by security forces and taken to an unknown location, accroding to a report by Kurdpa.

The individual has been identified as “Feyzollah Shadi, 47 years old, from the village of Kavaneh, and a resident of Kamyaran.”

The report states that security forces arrested this citizen at his workplace in Kamiyaran without presenting a judicial warrant and transferred him to an unknown location. His workplace has also been sealed.

No information has yet been obtained about the charges against this citizen.

According to data collected by the Department of Statistics and Publication of HRA in 2023, Kurdistan Province accounted for 8.3% of reported human rights violations, including instances of arbitrary detentions.

Kamal Lotfi Arrested by Security Forces in Dehgolan

On April 9, 2024, security forces apprehended Kamal Lotfi in Dehgolan, Kurdistan province, transferring him to an undisclosed facility. His 25-year-old son, Reza Lotfi, tragically lost his life at the hands of regime forces during the nationwide protests on September 19, 2022.

Confirming Lotfi’s arrest, a source close to his family informed HRANA that he was taken into custody after receiving a summons from the Revolutionary Court of Qorveh. The specific reasons for his arrest, his current location, and the charges against him remain undisclosed at this time.

This is not Lotfi’s first encounter with law enforcement. On April 17, 2023, security forces detained him through physical force, leading to his imprisonment in Kamyaran Prison. He was subsequently released on bail on July 3, 2023.

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Sivan Ebrahimi Receives an Eleven-Year Prison Sentence

Sivan Ebrahimi, one of the individuals detained in connection with the 2022 nationwide protests, has been sentenced to eleven years in prison by the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, as reported by Kurdpa.

According to the verdict issued by Judge Mohammad Karami on December 2, 2023, Ebrahimi was found guilty of “forming groups to act against national security,” resulting in a ten-year prison term if the decision is upheld on appeal. Additionally, he received a one-year sentence for “propaganda against the regime.”

In a separate facet of his legal case, the Sanandaj Criminal Court had previously imposed an additional one-year imprisonment in exile and 40 lashes.

Ebrahimi, a Kurdish language teacher and a member of the cultural association Nojin, faced his second arrest on January 18, 2023, in Kamyaran. Following this arrest, he was released on bail in February of the same year.

Two Citizens Arrested in Kamyaran and Piranshahr Cities

On December 27, security forces arrested Kianoosh Rahmani in Kamyaran. The next day Karim Poormohammad was arrested in Piranshahr. Both were transferred to an unidentified location.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Rahmani, a resident of Kamyaran County, was arrested after a previous summons by IRGC’s intelligence unit.

“Last Sunday, the security forces raided his house to arrest him, but he was not at home and they searched the house”, an informed source said.

As of yet, the security institution responsible for these arrests has not revealed to either family the reason for arrest, the charges or their whereabouts.

Supreme Court Rejects Heydar Ghorbani’s Request for Retrial

Branch 27 of the Supreme Court rejected political prisoner Heydar Ghorbani’s latest request for retrial.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Mr. Ghorbani has been previously sentenced to death by the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court on a charge of “insurgency”.

Heydar Ghorbani, a native of the village of Bazvash in Kamyaran area in Kurdistan Province, was first sentenced in October 2019 to three charges of imprisonment each for 30 years on charges of assisting in murder, assault with a deadly weapon, helping offenders to escape from law enforcement, involvement in premeditated murder, murder attempt, affixing a license plate to another car, attempt to kidnap, and the acquisition of stolen property.

The First Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj eventually sentenced Mr. Ghorbani to death on the charge of insurgency.

In August 2020, Branch 2 of the Supreme Court in Qom upheld the sentence and sent the case to the Kamyaran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office for enforcement of the judgment.

Saleh Nikbakht, Mr. Ghorbani’s attorney, announced in August 2020 that his client’s request for retrial had been filed. In September 2020, this request was overturned by Branch 27 of the Supreme Court.

In December 2020, another retrial was requested which was overturned last week. Saleh Nikbakht, Gorbani’s defense lawyer, said he will request a retrial again.

“From a legal and jurisprudential point of view, the accusation of insurgent against Mr. Ghorbani is not valid because someone who is called [rebel] insurgence is someone who is a member of a group which revolts against the Islamic Republic,” Nikbakht said. “If the group members use weapons, then they will be sentenced to death. None of these are true about Mr. Heydar Ghorbani.”

Heydar Ghorbani Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

Labor activist Heydar Ghorbani was sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar County.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting The Free Union of Iranian Workers, Ghorbani is from Kamyaran in Kurdistan Province.

Ghorbani is a construction worker and a member of the Free Trade Union of Iran.

According to the report, the labor activist was sentenced on charges of “membership in a group or population or a branch of a population formed within the country to disrupt the security of the country” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”.

 

Kolbar Injured from Landmine Explosion in Nowsud Border Area

On Thursday, May 6th, a kolbar was injured in the leg after a landmine left over from the Iran-Iraq war exploded in the border area of Nowsud.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, the citizen has been identified as Nader Saberi, son of Mr. Barakhas, from Tilkuh village in Kamyaran.

Every year, landmines cause the death and injury of several compatriots in border areas. About 42,000 square kilometers of land in Iran is contaminated with leftover landmines and unexploded ordnance from the Iran-Iraq war.

The Iranian regime continues to produce and plant anti-personnel mines, and, contrary to international conventions, the regime believes that using these mines is the only effective way to secure the country’s long borders.

Accordingly, they have planted mines on border areas with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. During the conflicts of the 1980s in Kurdistan, mines were planted in this region, as well.