Iran sentences Kurdish artist Mehdi Pakmehr to six years in prison and 80 lashes

Hengaw – Friday, June 12, 2026

Mehdi Pakmehr, a Kurdish artist and singer from Bojnurd and one of those wounded during the January protests, has been sentenced by the Iranian Judiciary to a total of six years in prison and 80 lashes.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Pakmehr was recently convicted in two separate cases before the Revolutionary Court and the Criminal Court of Bojnurd. In addition to imposing a combined six-year prison sentence and 80 lashes, judicial authorities have refused to provide him with a written copy of the verdicts, in violation of due process standards.

Sources familiar with the case said the Criminal Court of Bojnurd sentenced Pakmehr to imprisonment and 80 lashes, while the Revolutionary Court handed down an additional prison term. The combined sentences amount to six years of discretionary imprisonment.

Pakmehr, 41, was wounded in the leg by shotgun pellets fired directly by security forces during the January 2026 protests. He was subsequently arrested on January 8, 2026, amid a broader wave of arrests targeting protesters in Bojnurd. Several employees of his café were detained alongside him. Despite his injuries, he spent nearly two months in Bojnurd Central Prison under harsh conditions.

A well-known cultural and artistic figure in Bojnurd, Pakmehr was previously arrested in 2024 and sentenced to six months in prison.

He had also been arrested in June 2017 following the release of his song Biji Kurdistan (Long Live Kurdistan). According to available information, the case was linked to references in the song to Kurdistan, the Peshmerga, and the Kurdistan flag.