Kurdish Civilian from Bukan
Detention date: 20 December 2005
Charged with: Enmity against God
Sentence: 20 years and 6 months in prison, internal exile in Yazd Central Prison, and payment of blood money
Current status: Imprisoned in the Yazd Central Prison
Ghader Mohammadzadeh, a Kurdish civilian from Bukan, was arrested by Iranian security forces on 20 December 2005 on charges of “membership in one of the Kurdish opposition parties”.
For three months, Mohammadzadeh was held in solitary confinement in the detention centres of the Ministry of Intelligence in Mahabad and Orumiyeh. He was then taken to Orumiyeh Central Prison.
After 15 months of uncertainty regarding his situation, Mohammadzadeh was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison and internal exile in Yazd Central Prison on charges of “enmity against God” by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad. This verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal of West Azerbaijan province.
In a separate case in February 2011, this Kurdish political prisoner was sentenced by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court to six months in prison on charges of “communicating with foreign media”.
In February 2019, judicial authorities took punitive action against Mohammadzadeh and 30 other prisoners, accusing them of “violating prison laws”, and ordered their transfer to the security ward of the Orumiyeh Central Prison. Mohammadzadeh went on hunger strike on 2 March to protest his continued detention in the security ward and ended it three weeks later.
On 17 March 2017, while still on hunger strike, he was summoned to the office of the internal director of Orumiyeh Central Prison and was informed about a sentence that would internally exile him to Yazd Central Prison. Despite Yazd prison officials refusing to accept him, his transfer took place on 7 April 2019.
Reportedly, Mohammadzadeh was also sentenced to “retribution in kind” and seven years in prison on charges of “premeditated murder”. This sentence was then dropped in the Supreme Court to payment of blood money as compensation.
On 16 October 2019, Mohammadzadeh went on hunger strike after being told that he would be sentenced to seven years in prison in his second case. He was transferred to solitary confinement on 31 October, by the order of the director of Yazd Central Prison. However, he was taken to the prison infirmary on 5 November, following his deteriorating physical condition, but he refused to accept injection of serum.
Mohammadzadeh has been denied his right to temporary leave since the beginning of his imprisonment.
