MESOPOTAMIA NEWS WEEKLY REPORT KURDISTAN – IRAN  

19 August 2020 – The Iranian regime continued its crackdown on Kurdish political activity last week. An appeals court in Saqqez confirmed an activist named Najir Majedian’s four-month prison sentence for “aiding Kurdish opposition parties.” Also, in Saqqez, Iranian authorities arrested a Kurdish man named Rahim Rahmanpour on Wednesday. Concurrently, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) arrested a Kurdish man, Younis Khezry, in Oshnavieh. Likewise, Iranian security forces detained a Kurdish man named Faiq Pana in Bokan.

Meanwhile, a Sanandaj appeals court confirmed a female Kurdish environmental activist named Hajar Saedi’s five-year prison sentence. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), Saedi’s sentence will be implemented in six years, and she will have to check-in with the local Ettela’at office every four months until then. Finally, Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish political prisoner named Arash Nasri, who was initially arrested in March 2019, to 17 years in prison for “carrying a weapon against the state” and “illegal travels.”

Iranian authorities continued their bloody campaign targeting Kurdish border porters (Kolbars) last week. Iranian border guards injured a 17-year-old Kolbar named Armin Ahmadi near Marvian and killed another Kolbar, Hadi Khedri, near Piranshahr on Thursday. Iranian border guards also attacked a group of Kolbars on Saturday near Bradost in Urmia, killing a 27-year-old man named Saraj Ahmadi and wounding two of his colleagues. Iranian authorities then injured three more Kolbars in the same area later that day. Simultaneously, Islamic Army of Iran personnel (Artesh) ambushed a vehicle and killed two men believed to have business ties with Kolbars, Baran Basham and Ali Ashrafian, near Zanjan.

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