Abdanan – Kurdish writer Naser Hemmati sentenced to prison on charges of endorsing Israel

Hengaw – Saturday, July 26, 2025 

Naser Hemmati, a Kurdish psychiatrist, writer, poet, and civil activist from Abdanan in Ilam Province, has been sentenced by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary to a total of five years and three months in prison. He was denied access to his case file and barred from attending court hearings throughout the legal proceedings. 

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Hemmati was convicted by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Ilam. He received a sentence of three years, six months, and one day for “efforts to strengthen and legitimize the government of Israel,” fifteen months and one day for “insulting Ali Khamenei,” and six months in connection with content published on a Telegram channel. 

In a statement shared on his personal page, Hemmati noted that the sentence of three years and six months has been designated as the severe and enforceable punishment and is not eligible for reduction. The fifteen-month sentence, he stated, will not be enforced. 

Hemmati, a former political prisoner, revealed that on July 19, 2025, during a visit to Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Ilam to obtain a copy of the verdict, he saw his case file for the first time and learned the full details of the charges and sentencing. 

He added that since the issuance of the new indictment—based on reports from informants with the Abdanan Intelligence Department and technical assessments by its cyber division—he has never been granted access to his case file, despite a clear judicial order permitting it. 

Hemmati has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by Iranian security agencies in recent years. 

He is the translator of several books on psychotherapy and the author of Prison Notes, a memoir consisting of 103 daily entries from Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan and the Mahpareh detention center, written in 2021 and published abroad by Ronak Publishing.