The Ministry of Intelligence arrested Sasan Chamanara, an artist and civil rights activist from Ilam, Ilam Province, at his family home in the city on 17 January and took him to an undisclosed location.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the officers arrested Chamanara without a warrant during a raid on his home and confiscated some of his personal belongings.
Chamanara was previously beaten and arrested on 7 October 2022 during the anti-government uprising of Women Life Freedom in Tehran.
He was interrogated for 21 days in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Detention Centre and for 18 days by the Ministry of Intelligence in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, before being transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary.
In January 2023, Branch 29 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Seyyed Ali Mazloum, sentenced him to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security”.
On 24 January 2023, the artist was released from the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary on bail of 10 billion Iranian rials – nearly 20,000 USD.
Although the Tehran Province Appeals Court upheld the sentence, it was suspended for five years by Branch One of the Execution of Judgements Office.
A few months later, Chamanara was summoned to the prosecutor’s office in Evin Prison, where he was interrogated and accused of “propaganda against the state” in connection with a video clip he had shared on social media on the anniversary of the government’s killing of Jina Amini.
