Kurdish civil rights activist Edris Menbari, who is a member of the Nozhin Socio-Cultural Association in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, has been sentenced to one year in prison and 40 lashes on charges of “disturbing public order”.
Menbari’s trial took place on 10 October, in absentia, with neither he nor his legal representatives present, at Branch 106 of the Sanandaj Criminal Court Two, presided over by Judge Bahman Omidzadeh.
The written verdict was recently delivered to the activist and can be appealed within 21 days.
According to the verdict, the court opt to enforce the one-year sentence in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, rather than in his place of residence, citing paragraph 3 of Article 513 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Menbari was arrested by security forces in Sanandaj on 28 November 2022.
After initial interrogation, he was transferred from the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj to the city’s prison.
On 29 January, Menbari was provisionally released on bail of 10 billion rials – nearly 20,000 USD.
