Mahabad: Security Forces Detain Zakaria Karimi, Brother of Executed Religious Prisoner Ayoub Karimi

Hengaw: Friday, December 1, 2023

Zakaria Karimi, the brother of Ayoub Karimi, a Kurdish religious prisoner from Mahabad, who faced execution three days ago in Ghezel Hesar prison, has been apprehended by security forces.

According to a report obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights on Thursday, November 30, 2023, Zakaria Karimi, a Kurdish individual from Mahabad, was arrested by the Intelligence department in Sardasht city.

An informed source close to Zakaria Karimi's family revealed that he was subsequently transferred to the detention center of this security institution in Urmia after his arrest in Sardasht by Intelligence department forces.

Hengaw has learned that Zakaria Karimi's wife and young child were also detained briefly by the aforementioned forces for a few hours.

In the wake of a video featuring his 70-year-old mother addressing the public, particularly the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, urging a halt to the execution of her son, Ayoub Karimi, Zakaria Karimi's family has faced pressure from the Intelligence Department.

Zakaria Karimi was arrested after the execution of his brother Ayoub Karimi's death sentence at dawn on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Ayoub, a father of two, saw his death sentence carried out after spending fourteen years in prison.