Idris Menbari, Kurdish language instructor, sentenced to two years in prison

Hengaw: Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Idris Menbari, a civil activist, Kurdish language instructor, and board member of the “Nojin” NGO, has been sentenced to a total of two years in prison by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sentence includes one year of enforceable imprisonment and one year of suspended imprisonment, effective for three years.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the verdict was issued by Branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court on charges of “forming groups and gatherings with the intent to disrupt national security.” The decision was formally delivered to Menbari on Monday, December 9, 2024.

Last year, he and fellow activist Sorveh Pourmohammadi were sentenced to ten years in prison by the same court, under the presiding judge, Karami. However, the Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, and the case was sent back to the Revolutionary Court for retrial.

Menbari has faced previous convictions as well. In an earlier case, Branch 106 of the Sanandaj Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Bahman Omidzadeh, sentenced him to one year of imprisonment, exile to Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah, and 40 lashes for “disrupting public order.”

He was initially arrested on December 18, 2022, by security forces and detained for 43 days. He was released on bail of 1 billion tomans on February 28, 2023, pending judicial proceedings. Manbari had also been arrested on May 23, 2019, during a raid conducted by Sanandaj Intelligence forces alongside two other members of the Nojin organization.