Conviction of ‘Suleiman Abdi’ to Imprisonment and Flogging

‘Suleiman Abdi’, a member of the Teachers’ Guild Association of Saqez, Kurdistan, has been convicted to imprisonment and flogging.

Suleiman Abdi, a member of the Teachers’ Guild Association of Saqez, Kurdistan, has been sentenced to eight months of imprisonment and 70 lashes of punitive flogging. The Saqez Court has commuted his imprisonment to 720 hours of teaching for members of the welfare committee.

The verdict was issued by Branch 105 of the Criminal Court of Saqez on the charge of ‘disrupting public order and peace through participation in an unlawful gathering at Aichi Cemetery’.

Suleiman Abdi was arrested on March 19, 2023, without a court order by security forces and was transferred to the Sanandaj Intelligence Agency detention center for interrogation. During a search of his residence, security forces seized the mobile phones of Abdi and his family members. In April 2023, after completing the interrogation process, he was transferred from the Sanandaj Intelligence Agency detention center to Saqez Prison. Finally, on April 11, 2023, he was temporarily released from Saqez Prison upon posting a bail of 200 million tomans pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.

Now the court has commuted the eight-month imprisonment of this teacher union activist to 720 hours of teaching for members of the welfare committee and suspended his 70 lashes of punitive flogging for two years.