Iran: Court OF Appeal Sentenced Kurdish Activist to 5 Years Prison
Published by Ali on February 14, 2021
International Liberty Association: An appeals court has sentenced Kurdish civil activist, Zahra Mohammadi, to five years behind bars. The appeals court was held in October 2020 presided over by Mostafa Tayari, and the verdict has been officially notified to her in recent days.
Zahra Mohmmmadi is the director of the Nojin Cultural Association, whose activities include teaching the Kurdish language and literature and other civil activities. She has been teaching Kurdish voluntarily in villages of Sanandaj for 10 years.
She was arrested on 23 May 2019, for her peaceful activities empowering members of Iran’s marginalized Kurdish community, including through teaching the Kurdish language.
The Intelligence Office in Sanandaj raided her home and transferred her to Sanandaj prison and she was under intense interrogation to make forced confessions against herself. Zahra’s family was informed of her whereabouts after eight days.
It should be mentioned that, Zahra was held in incommunicado detention and subjected to interrogations for over two months without access to a lawyer, and she was put under greater pressure through being denied contact with her family to sign documents and agree to work for the ministry of intelligence.
The Kurdish activist was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2020. The verdict, issued by the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, was announced to her husband in a text message on 12 July 2020.
ILA: Ethnic minorities in Iran, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen, face discrimination in access to education, employment and adequate housing.
