The Public and Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj has summoned the secretary of the Kurdistan branch of the National Unity Party and lawyer Farhad Mohammadi on 14 July and sent him to Sanandaj Central Prison to serve a 10-month sentence.
Security forces had arrested the Kurdish activist on 4 January 2019, during a large wave of arrests of Kurdish environmental activists and members of the Kurdistan branch of the National Unity Party in Sanandaj and Kamyaran.
He was held for nearly five months in solitary confinement in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj and was pressured to make a forced confession.
After being interrogated, Mohammadi was transferred to the quarantine ward of Sanandaj Central Prison on 25 May 2019.
Contrary to the standard procedure of commuting detention into release on bail in similar cases, his temporary detention was illegally extended following an objection by the prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj.
During his entire detention, while his young daughter was hospitalised due to a severe illness, he was allowed to have only a brief visit with his family in the presence of interrogators.
One month after the lawyer’s arrest, 59 of his fellow lawyers issued an open letter and demanded his release, emphasising his professional background and reputation.
On 9 July 2019, he was released from Sanandaj Central Prison on a bail of 500 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 20,000 USD – after six months of detention.
In June 2020, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj – presided over by Judge Saeidi – sentenced Mohammadi to four years in prison for “acting against national security”. In mid-March 2021, Branch 4 of the Court of Appeals of Kurdistan province commuted this sentence to 10 months in prison.
Also, the activist’s license to practice law was suspended after his temporary release from prison.
