Kurdish civilian sentenced to prison as Iranian crackdown continues
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A Kurdish civilian from Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison on charges of “acting against national security” for his membership in an unnamed Kurdish opposition party, as well as “propaganda against the state.”
Jalal Amini had been arrested in August 2022 and interrogated by the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
He is one of thousands of civilians to have been arrested by Iranian authorities since the killing of Mahsa Amini (no relation) on September 16, 2022, at the hands of the government’s morality police. The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman sparked widespread anti-government protests.
In the past 48 hours alone, three female journalists were arrested in Tehran, the Beirut-based paper L’Orient Today reports. Around 80 journalists have been arrested by Iranian police since protests erupted.
The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights says at least 481 people, including 64 children and 35 women, have been killed by security forces since September 16.
At least four people have been executed following court rulings in relation to their participation in the protests. Two young men were hanged on January 7. Forty-one other Iranians have been handed down death penalties for their role in anti-government demonstrations.