Kermanshah— Kurdish Sunni cleric Mamosta Ayat Gholami sentenced to prison

Hengaw – Sunday, September 7, 2025

Mamosta Ayat Gholami, a Kurdish Sunni cleric, former imam of the Mohammad al-Mostafa Mosque in Kermanshah, and teacher of Islamic sciences, has been sentenced by the Appeals Branch of the Special Clerical Court to six months in prison and an additional five years of suspended imprisonment.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, this latest sentence was issued in recent days by the Appeals Branch of the Special Clerical Court.

Earlier, on May 24, 2025, Gholami had been sentenced by the Special Clerical Court in Hamedan to two years in prison—one year enforceable—on charges including “propaganda against the state,” “spreading false information,” “disturbing public opinion,” and “insulting Fatemeh.” He had previously been summoned on April 23, 2025, to the Kermanshah branch of the Special Clerical Court, where he was arrested.

On July 9, 2024, Gholami was banned from leading prayers and barred from mosque activities by order of the Kermanshah Clerical Protection Office, a security-linked body. Shortly after this ban, he appeared in a video protesting the decision and disclosed that he had previously been warned by authorities that all mosque classes and gatherings at Mohammad al-Mostafa Mosque must be held under the supervision of state-approved instructors.