Kamal Lotfi, the father of Reza Lotfi, one of the protesters killed during the anti-government uprising of Women, Life, Freedom in Dehgolan, Kurdistan Province, was arrested on 9 April and taken to an undisclosed location.
This is Lotfi’s second detention, following his first arrest by security forces in April 2023, from which he was later released on bail.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Lotfi was detained after being summoned to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Qorveh, Kurdistan Province.
Details of Lotfi’s current whereabouts and the charges against him remain unknown.
Lotfi was first arrested on 16 April 2023 by security forces on a street in Dehgolan. He was initially taken to the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, and after initial interrogation was transferred to Kamyaran Prison in Kurdistan Province.
In protest at his continued detention in Kamyaran Prison, Lotfi began a hunger strike on 18 May 2023.
After 87 days in detention, he was temporarily released on bail from prison on 3 July 2023.
In November 2023, Lotfi was summoned to Branch 102 of Dehgolan Criminal Court Two to stand trial on charges of “propaganda against the state”.
Lotfi’s 20-year-old son, Reza Lotfi, was killed by special forces during anti-government protests in Dehgolan on 19 September 2022.
After their son was killed, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened and pressured the family to give a television interview blaming the Kurdish opposition for their son’s death.
As the pressure continued, the father released a video announcing that his son had been shot by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
