Kurdish civil activist arrested by security forces in Sanandaj

Hengaw: Saturday, February 8, 2025

Kurdish civil activist Qane' Khatari, a resident of Sanandaj (Sine), has been detained by security forces for the past three days, with no information available regarding his whereabouts.

According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Thursday, February 6, 2025, Khatari was arrested by security forces without an arrest warrant and taken to an undisclosed location.

It is noteworthy that on January 16, 2025, Khatari was previously summoned to the Sanandaj Intelligence Department, where he was interrogated for several hours before being released.

Despite three days passing since his latest arrest, his family’s repeated attempts to obtain any information about his fate and condition have been met with silence from the authorities.

Khatari has a history of persecution by authorities. On May 18, 2021, he was arrested along with six other activists—members of the “Jiyanene Kurdistan” charity campaign—by the Intelligence Department. He was held in detention for 40 days before being released on June 27, 2021, on bail, pending further judicial proceedings.

In May 2022, Branch One of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Saeedi, sentenced all seven activists to two years in prison on charges of “collaboration with a Kurdish opposition party.” However, following an appeal, Khatari’s sentence was reduced to 18 months. On July 3, 2022, he was re-arrested and transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison to serve his sentence.
As of the time of this report, no official information has been released regarding the reasons for Khatari’s latest arrest, or the charges against him.