Iranian authorities arrested Kurdish activists for second time in Span of six months

Hengaw; Saturday, August 19, 2023

Aryan Koukhaei, a young resident of Ilam and a victim of the crackdowns on the “Jin, Jian, Azadi” movement, has once again been detained by government forces in Ilam.

According to reports received by the Hengaw organization for Human Rights, on Saturday, August 5th, 2023, Aryan Koukhaei, 23 years old from Ilam, was arrested and transferred to the central prison of Ilam.
 

The arrest of Aryan Koukhaei and his transfer to prison comes at a time when no hearing for his previous charges has been held, and there is no information available regarding the reasons for his re-arrest.
 

During his previous detention on Tuesday February 14th, Aryan Koukhaei, protested against his months-long uncertainty in detention by sewing his lips shut as a form of hunger strike.
 

He was charged by the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Ilam with "forming a criminal group, destruction and demonstrating power with firearms, and disrupting public order" and was sentenced to a fine in another case of "desecrating Sanctities" by the Ilam Criminal Court last December.
 

Aryan Koukhaei was detained by government forces on Saturday, the 29th of October, 2022, and transferred to the central prison in Ilam. He was eventually released on bail in early February of this year, pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.