Iranian authorities detain Kurdish artist Sasan Chamanara and sister Parastoo in Ilam

Hengaw – Monday, March 16, 2026

Iranian authorities have detained Kurdish artist Sasan Chamanara, a resident of Ilam who has previously been arrested multiple times, including during the Woman, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement, along with his sister, Parastoo Chamanara. Both were taken into custody and transferred to an undisclosed location.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the arrests took place on Monday, March 16, 2026, when 36-year-old Sasan Chamanara and his sister were detained at their family home in Ilam.

Javad Chamanara, their brother, wrote on his X account that other members of the family were present at the house at the time of the arrests.

Sasan Chamanara had previously been arrested on July 16, 2025, and was later released from Ilam Prison on September 13, 2025, after posting bail.

Earlier, in February 2024, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Ilam sentenced him to three months in prison, with credit for time previously served, along with a fine of 20 million tomans on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Chamanara had also been arrested on October 7, 2022, by the IRGC Intelligence Organization during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. He was later sentenced by Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Seyed Ali Mazloum, to five years of discretionary imprisonment.