Kurdish activist Shahram Hatami arrested in Urmia to serve sentence

Hengaw – Sunday, August 31, 2025

Shahram Hatami, a Kurdish civil activist from Urmia, has been arrested and transferred to the city’s central prison to serve a six-month sentence.

According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Hatami was detained on Saturday, August 30, 2025, in Urmia and taken to the city’s Central Prison to begin serving his sentence.

On May 19, 2025, Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court sentenced him to two years in prison, a two-year ban on online activity, and the confiscation of his mobile phone as the alleged “instrument of the crime.” The Court of Appeal later reduced the sentence to six months and one day.

The charges against him included “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran, promoting unveiled clothing, cooperating with opposition media, and insulting ethnic groups.”

Hatami was previously arrested on September 29, 2024, when Iranian security forces raided his home in Urmia and confiscated his personal belongings, including his phone and laptop.

He was released three days later from Urmia Central Prison after posting bail of 800 million tomans, pending the outcome of legal proceedings.