Kurdish Language Instructor Haji Barzeh Sentenced to Imprisonment in Piranshahr

Hengaw: Friday, May 6, 2024

Haji Barzeh, a Kurdish civil activist and instructor at the “Bryan” Kurdish Language Institute in Piranshahr, has been sentenced by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to five months of imprisonment and a monetary fine. His charges stem from his participation in a Newroz celebration.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mr. Barzeh was recently convicted by Branch 102 of the Criminal Court of Piranshahr, presided over by Judge Amir Mohammadi. He was sentenced to five months of imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the state” and fined 15 million tomans for “spreading false information.”

Mr. Barzeh, a civil and environmental activist from the village of Chiyaneh in Piranshahr, was arrested on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, during a raid on his workplace by intelligence forces. The arrest was carried out without an arrest warrant. He was subsequently transferred to the intelligence department’s detention center in Urmia.

Following three weeks of detention, Mr. Barzeh was temporarily released on June 27, 2024, after posting bail of 2.5 billion tomans, pending the completion of legal proceedings.

It is also noteworthy that Haji Barzeh is the brother of Bapir Barzeh, a Kurdish political prisoner currently serving a 4.5-year sentence in the Central Prison of Naqadeh.