Kurdish activist sentenced to 18 months in prison in Iran

Allah-Veysi, a member of the Jiyanaway Kurdistan Campaign, was sentenced to one year for “acting against national security.

Kurdish civil rights activist Ali Allah-Veysi has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported.

Allah-Veysi, a member of the Jiyanaway Kurdistan Campaign, was sentenced to one year for “acting against national security” through his alleged membership of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and an additional six months for “propaganda against the state”, according to KHRN.

The verdict was delivered on 17 November following a trial on 12 November in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Mostafa Azizi.

Allah-Veysi, a former political prisoner from Sanandaj, was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and taken to the Ministry’s detention facility in the city.

After weeks in detention, he was transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison and later released on 14 August on bail of five billion rials (nearly 7,000 USD).

The activist was previously arrested by security forces in Sanandaj on 8 May 2021, along with six other campaign members, and was released on bail on 13 June of that year.

The trial of the seven activists was held on 14 March 2022 at Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “acting against national security” by collaborating with the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

In May 2022, Allah-Veysi was informed that he had been sentenced to two years in prison, a sentence later reduced to five months of imprisonment and four years of suspended imprisonment by Branch Four of the Kurdistan Court of Appeal.

Allah-Veysi was rearrested in September 2022 to serve his sentence and was released from Sanandaj Central Prison upon completion of his sentence.