Concerns grow over disappearance of Sajad Moradivandan, detained activist from Women, Life, Freedom movement

Hengaw – Saturday, July 5, 2025

Sajad Moradivandan, a Kurdish civil activist from Abdanan in Ilam Province, has been missing for 17 days after fleeing his home during a pursuit by security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His fate and current condition remain unknown.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, there has been a complete lack of information regarding Moradivandan’s whereabouts or physical safety. The 35-year-old activist has not made contact with his family since his disappearance, raising serious concerns among his relatives and the wider community.

A source close to the family reported that security forces have confiscated all of Moradivandan’s personal and identification documents, including his birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license.

Despite repeated efforts, his family has been unable to obtain any information about his situation, and no government agency has accepted responsibility for his case.

On Wednesday, June 18, 2025, security forces raided Moradivandan’s home in an attempt to arrest him. However, he had left shortly before the raid and has remained missing ever since.

This is not his first encounter with the authorities. On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, Moradivandan was arrested for the third time after being summoned to the Abdanan courthouse and was subsequently transferred to an undisclosed location.

In 2023, the Second Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Ilam charged him with “inciting and provoking the public to disrupt national security” and “insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”

Earlier, on April 5, 2023, Moradivandan was released from Ilam Prison after a 20-day hunger strike, posting bail set at 300 million tomans.

His first arrest occurred on January 31, 2023, when security forces detained him near Masjed Soleyman.