The Special Clerical Court in Hamadan sentenced Kurdish Sunni cleric Barzan Maleki to one year in prison and permanently stripped him of his clerical status on charges of “propaganda against the state”, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.

Maleki, who is an imam and religious instructor at the Sheikheyn Grand Mosque in Sanandaj in the Kurdistan Province, was informed of the sentence by telephone on 28 June. The final hearing in his case took place on 25 June.

On 25 May, Maleki was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence office in Sanandaj, where he was questioned for two hours. During this visit, he was given a formal summons to appear at the Special Clerical Court in Hamadan.

The following day, Maleki was taken into custody after being summoned to the Special Clerical Court of Hamadan.

This is not the first time the Kurdish Sunni cleric has been detained. On 28 January 2025, security forces intercepted Maleki and several of his religious students on the Sanandaj–Dehgolan road in Kurdistan Province while they were travelling towards Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province to attend a religious gathering. They were held for several hours before being released, which brought an end to their journey.