Soleiman Abdi, a member of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, was sent to Saqqez prison on 3 March to serve an eight-month sentence.
Abdi had been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Saqqez on charges of “propaganda against the state”.
Additionally, on 14 July 2023, Branch 105 of the Criminal Court Two in Saqqez sentenced the Kurdish teacher to eight months in prison and 70 lashes on charges of “disturbing public order” for his involvement in an unauthorised gathering at Aychi cemetery in the city.
The court decided to commute the eight-month prison sentence to “720 hours of teaching for individuals covered by the [Imam Khomeini] Relief Foundation”, while suspending the 70 lashes for a period of two years.
Abdi was arrested by security forces in Saqqez on 19 March 2023 and was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province.
On 10 April 2023, he was temporarily released from from Saqqez Prison after posting a bail of 2 billion rials (nearly 4,000 USD).
Prior to this detention, Abdi was also arrested on 15 June 2022 for union activities and later released on bail on 25 June 2022.
