Kurdish political prisoner Soleyman Sohrabi was transferred to a court in Mahabad after serving a six months of his jail sentence and the second term of his sentence, which consisted of 70 lashes, was implemented then the prison authorities released him On 17 November 2015, a local source said while speaking to Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) on condition of anonymity.
This source said that on 7 May 2015, following riots condemning the suspicious death of Kurdish chambermaid Farinaz Khosravani in the city of Mahabad, the security forces had arrested many of the protesters who had gathered outside hotel where Farinaz had worked and died in a suspicious incident.
Soleyman Sohrabi was one of those arrested outside the hotel.
He was accused of “disturbing public order” and sentenced also to pay a bail of 400 millions Iranian toumans.
And, just because he did not afford to pay such a sum, his case was sent to the court and he was transferred to Mahabad detention centre two months later.
Until last week, this prisoner was held in Mahabad prison without any knowledge of his fate.
The Revolutionary Court of Mahabad finally sentenced him to six months behind bars and 70 lashes on charges of “disturbing public order”.
The source said that when the court ordered his release from prison on 17 November, he had spent already six months and 7 days behind bars.
From prison, he was transferred to Mahabad Revolutionary Court to receive 70 lashes “to complete” his sentence, the judge had told him in the court room.
He was released just after he was hit with the lashes that resulted in his body being covered by open wounds.
On 4 May 2015, 26-year-old Kurdish chambermaid Farinaz Khosravani died after she plunged from the 4th floor of Tara Hotel, her workplace.
The reasons behind the incident have remained unknown as of yet.
However, locals suspected that she jumped to avoid rape by an Iranian government official who had stayed at the hotel at the time, for which the Kurdish youths poured into the streets to condemn her slaying and the protests soon turned anti-government.
At least 25 protesters were wounded by the security forces and hundreds were arrested.
Most of the detained were released on bail, the sum of which ranged from 200 millions toumans to 1 billion toumans.
On 27 June, Akam Talaj, one of the protesters wounded by security forces during the Mahabad protests, died from his wounds in Oroumiyeh’s Imam Khomeini Hospital after 53 days of hospitalization.
