Urmia: Two Kurdish religious figures, Mamosta Salam Mahmoudian and Mamosta Hasan Khezri sentenced to suspended prison terms and fines

Hengaw: Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Dr. Mamosta Salam Mahmoudian and Mamosta Hasan Khezri, two Kurdish Sunni religious figures and Friday prayer leaders from villages near Sardasht, have each been sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment and a monetary fine by the Special Clergy Court in Urmia.

According to reports received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Dr. Mahmoudian, the Friday Imam of Beyuran-e Sofla, and Mamosta Khezri, the Friday Imam of Beyuran-e Olya, were sentenced to two years of suspended prison and fined 20 million tomans each.

Hengaw has learned that the court session addressing their charges was held on Monday, May 5, 2025, and the preliminary verdicts were issued and communicated immediately afterward.

Both clerics had previously been summoned multiple times by security agencies during the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom) movement for publicly supporting the movement and commemorating those who were killed. Their cases were later pursued through the Special Clergy Court based on fabricated charges.