Former Kurdish political prisoner Mahmoud Niroumand arrested to serve sentence

Hengaw: Saturday, January 18, 2025

Mahmoud Niroumand, also known as “Sarheldan,” a former Kurdish political prisoner from Dargaz in Razavi Khorasan Province, has been arrested to serve a prison sentence and transferred to the Dargaz Central Prison.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Niroumand, a 39-year-old resident of the village of Palgard in Dargaz County, was arrested while accompanying his brother for medical treatment. He was immediately transferred to the city’s central prison.

Mahmoud Niroumand had previously been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Dargaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Vafaei, to one year and six months in prison on charges of “propaganda against the government.”

This is not the first time Niroumand has faced imprisonment. In October 2021, the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Ali Soleimani, sentenced him to 10 years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the government” and “connections with opposition groups.” This sentence was later reduced to 2 years and 8 months on appeal.

Niroumand, a cultural activist, was released from Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison on February 13, 2023, under an amnesty after serving part of his 32-month sentence. He was initially arrested on May 25, 2021, by Mashhad Intelligence forces and was temporarily released on bail pending trial.