Karaj: Kurdish researcher Azhdar Piri imprisoned to serve one-year sentence

Hengaw: Thursday, May 8, 2025

Azhdar Piri, a 36-year-old Kurdish researcher from Urmia and editor-in-chief of the international monthly Research of Nations, has been arrested and transferred to Karaj Central Prison to begin serving a one-year prison sentence.

According to a report obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Piri was taken into custody on Sunday, May 4, 2025, to serve the sentence handed down earlier this year.

In mid-January 2025, Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of Karaj sentenced him to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the government.” Additionally, he received a two-year ban on online activities as part of his supplementary punishment.

On October 21, 2024, agents from the Iranian Intelligence Ministry raided Piri’s residence in Karaj, arresting him and confiscating several electronic devices, including his mobile phone and laptop.

After spending 26 days in detention, he was temporarily released on November 15, 2024, after posting bail set at 200 million tomans, pending the outcome of legal proceedings.