Gilak labour activist Younes Azadbar detained to serve prison sentence

Hengaw — Monday, December 8, 2025

Younes Azadbar, a 62-year-old Gilak labour activist and resident of Rasht, was detained to serve his 15-month prison sentence and transferred to Lakan Prison.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Azadbar was detained on Monday, December 8, 2025, in the town of Sangar in Rasht County and transferred to the city's Lakan Prison to begin serving his sentence.

His son, Mehrad Azadbar, confirmed the arrest and stated that his father was transferred to Lakan Prison on Monday to begin serving his sentence.

Azadbar was sentenced on Saturday, October 4, 2025, by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, presided over by Judge Mohammad Ali Darvish-Goftar, to seven months and sixteen days in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the state” and to fifteen months and one day on the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader.”

This labour activist was previously arrested on Monday, May 5, 2025, when IRGC Intelligence forces raided his home without presenting a warrant and transferred him to their detention facility. He was released one week later, on May 11, 2025, on bail.

Azadbar had also been arrested in July 2023 and was released in December of the same year after posting bail to receive medical treatment.