Report on the current situation of Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Karimi in Sanandaj Central Prison

Hengaw: Saturday, December 21, 2024

Mohammad Karimi, a 34-year-old Kurdish political prisoner and father of two from Baneh, has spent the past 4 years, 7 months, and 24 days in Sanandaj Central Prison and the Sanandaj Intelligence Office detention center, serving a 25-year prison sentence. Despite the prolonged incarceration, he has been denied furlough and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. His case has been marred by violations of his fundamental rights.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Karimi was charged with “assisting in rebellion” and has now spent over 1,700 days in detention, during which he has been systematically deprived of his most basic rights.

Mohammad Karimi, along with two other residents of Baneh, Mohammad Feizi and Baset Karimi, was violently arrested on Saturday, April 25, 2020, by government forces. Another individual, Yousef Ahmadi, was arrested the following day, on Sunday, April 26, 2020. After prolonged interrogations at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office, they were transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison.

On September 3, 2023, the First Branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Saeedi, sentenced Mohammad Karimi to 25 years imprisonment for “assisting in rebellion,” Baset Karimi and Mohammad Feizi to 20 years imprisonment each for the same charge. Additionally Yousef Ahmadi received Death sentence for “rebellion” through “membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.”

The cases against these individuals were fabricated under intense physical and psychological torture. They were systematically denied access to legal counsel and basic defense rights throughout their detention and trial. The sentences were based solely on recommendations by security agencies, with no regard for due process or fair trial standards.

Karimi was arrested on the night his child was born. During his detention and interrogation at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office, officials offered promises of release and visitation with his newborn if he confessed to charges dictated by interrogators. These confessions, extracted under duress, formed the basis for his conviction.

Karimi remains incarcerated in Sanandaj Central Prison, with no access to furlough or other basic rights.