Kurdish cleric Mamosta Barzan Maleki detained, whereabouts unknown

Hengaw – Monday, May 26, 2025

Mamosta Barzan Maleki, a Kurdish cleric and imam of the Sheikhin Grand Mosque in Sanandaj (Sna), was detained after appearing before the Special Court for the Clergy in Hamedan.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Maleki was arrested on the morning of Monday, May 26, 2025, following a formal summons to the court. His arrest comes just one day after he was summoned and briefly interrogated by the Intelligence Department in Sanandaj before being released.

This is not the first time Maleki has faced pressure from authorities. On January 29, 2025, while en route to Makki Mosque in Zahedan at the invitation of its leadership, he was detained near Dehgolan—20 kilometers outside Sanandaj—by security forces and forcibly returned with his students.

No official information has been released regarding the reasons for his detention, his current whereabouts, or the charges against him.