Kurdish singer from Urmia sentenced to 100 lashes; Peyman Mirzazadeh goes on hunger strike in protest
Peyman Mirzazadeh, a Kurdish singer from Urmia who is serving a two-year prison sentence in Urmia, was taken to court this week to serve a sentence of 100 lashes and was returned to prison after the sentence was carried out.
This young singer was previously sentenced to two years in prison and 100 lashes by Branch 110 of the Urmia General Court on charges of drinking alcohol and performing epic songs while wearing Kurdish clothing at a wedding celebration in Turkish Kurdistan.
An informed source told VOA that while he was being held in Urmia Prison, he was transferred to the Fourth Branch of the Urmia General Court on Sunday to carry out his sentence of 100 lashes.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Peyman Mirzazadeh's back is heavily bloodied and bruised after the flogging, and the marks are clearly visible. The imprisoned Kurdish singer has gone on strike after the execution by writing a letter protesting the flogging and the two-year prison sentence he was given on charges of acting against national security and propagandizing against the regime.
This is not the first time that this Kurdish singer has gone on a hunger strike. Previously, on April 12 of this year, he and fifteen other Kurdish political prisoners in Iranian prisons went on a three-day hunger strike in solidarity with Kurdish political prisoners in Turkish prisons and in solidarity with Leyla Guven, a lawmaker from the People's Democratic Party.
Previously, Peyman Mirzazadeh was arrested by security agents on March 2, 2018 and released from Urmia Prison on March 1, 2018 after posting a bail of 300 million Tomans until the end of the trial. In a trial held on March 4 of last year in the first branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court without the presence of a lawyer, he was sentenced to two years in prison and permanently banned from singing on charges of "propaganda against the regime and cooperation with Kurdish parties opposing the Iranian government through songwriting."
Source: Voice of America
