A Kurdish Political Prisoner Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

Sakine Parvaneh, a Kurdish political prisoner from Khorasan who is being held in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Tehran Islamic Revolution Court.

Payam Darfshan, the defense lawyer of Sakine Parvaneh, announced on Monday, June 5, confirming the news and publishing the court’s ruling on his Twitter account, stating that the verdict is not final and is subject to appeal.

According to the issued court ruling, this political prisoner was sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Islamic Revolution Court on charges of “membership in groups opposed to the system named Komala and Democrat with the goal of disrupting the country’s security” to 5 years imprisonment, counting previous detention periods. Additionally, as a supplementary punishment, a 2-year ban on membership in political groups and associations was issued for her.

Based on news published by human rights media outlets, Ms. Parvaneh applied for transfer to Iran by visiting the Iranian Consulate in Erbil, Iraq in late last year and was arrested by security forces on February 8 after arriving at the “Bashmaq” border and transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran.

According to these reports and citing an informed source, Ms. Parvaneh was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin in April of this year following graffiti writing in Evin Prison. After spending 4 days in solitary confinement, she was transferred to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital in the city of Rey and after 25 days was returned to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.

This is not the first time a citizen has been sentenced to prison on charges of “membership in groups opposed to the system.” Previously, it was reported that Saeed Sangar, who was arrested in September 2000 by officials of the Urmia Intelligence Bureau and is currently being held in Ward 12 of Urmia Central Prison, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Branch 2 of the Urmia Islamic Revolution Court presided over by Judge Ali Sheikhlu in a new case on charges of “membership in groups opposed to the system.”

The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the violent treatment of the Iranian people by the Islamic Republic regime under various pretexts, as well as the repeated and continuous violation of the rights of Iranian citizens by regime agents.

Source: Voice of America