Yarsani activists Siavash Hayati, Seyyed Amin Abbasi, Seyyed Soroush Abbasi and Seyyed Karam Abbasi, who were arrested by the intelligence forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kermanshah and Saveh on 30 November and 1 December, are still held in detention.

In the past few days, the three Abbasi brothers, who had previously been taken from the detention centre of IRGC’s intelligence organisation to Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah on 17 December, were transferred to the detention facility of the Ministry of Intelligence in the city, sources told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

Meanwhile, the fate of Siavash Hayati, the secretary of the Kurdish United Front and the spokesperson for the Yarsan Civil Activists’ Advisory Council, remains unknown.

Seyyed Karam Abbasi has been on a hunger strike since the time of his arrest and his health situation has been reported to be a cause for concern.

He was arrested at his house in Saveh on 30 November and was transferred to the detention centre of the IRGC intelligence organisation in Kermanshah.

Siavash Hayati, Seyyed Amin Abbasi, Kaki Farzad Almasi and Seyyed Soroush Abbasi, Ali Nazari, Mohammad Ghabouli and Rouzbeh Hayati were beaten and arrested on their way back from Sahneh to Kermanshah by plain clothes and without an arrest warrant.

While Ali Nazari, Mohammad Ghabouli and Rouzbeh Hayati were released after two hours, Siavash Hayati, Seyyed Amin Abbasi, Kaki Farzad Almasi and Seyyed Soroush Abbasi were transferred to the detention centre of IRGC’s intelligence agency in Kermanshah.

Almasi was released on bail from Kermanshah’s Dizel Abad Prison on 18 December.

The activists had travelled to Sahneh to meet the freed people of the 18 November ceremony.

On 18 November, the 21st anniversary of the commemoration of Seyed Khalil Alinezhad, a famous artist and one of the leaders of the Yarsan community, led to protests in Sahneh.

The military-security forces attacked the participants by throwing tear gas and shooting at them. They arrested a large number of those present at the ceremony.