Azad Abbasi

On 18 September 2023, Azad Abbasi, a cultural activist and Kurdish language instructor from Dehgolan in Kurdistan Province, was arrested by security forces and taken to an undisclosed location. Specific details regarding the reason and manner of his latest arrest are not available.

Previously, on 9 September 2023, Abbasi had been summoned by phone to the Intelligence Office in Dehgolan, where he was arrested. After undergoing interrogation and being formally charged, he was transferred to Qorveh Prison and was released on bail on 16 September 2023.

This cultural activist was also arrested by security forces in Dehgolan on 21 September 2022. He was transferred to the Intelligence Detention Centre in Sanandaj, where he underwent interrogation and was charged before being moved to Sanandaj Prison. He was released on bail some time later.

On 27 November 2022, Azad Abbasi was sentenced by a judge at the Revolutionary Court in Dehgolan to 10 months of imprisonment for propaganda activities against the regime, 18 months for disrupting public order and security, and 4 years for assembly and collusion against national security.

In January 2021, Azad Abbasi and his brother were tried by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. They were sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment. Azad Abbasi was acquitted of the charges against him, and a dismissal order was issued.