Security forces arrested Kurdish civil rights activist Ayda Amouei and university lecturer Asaad Ghafouri in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, taking them to an undisclosed location on 18 January.

According to information received by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), Amouei, who was arrested at her workplace without a warrant, had received threatening phone calls from agents of the Ministry of Intelligence prior to her arrest.

In a simultaneous operation, security forces arrested Ghafouri, a university lecturer and one of the administrators of the Telegram group campaign to “Stop the Execution of Pakhshan Azizi”.

Following his arrest, the name of the campaign’s Telegram group was changed by security agents.

The group has been instrumental in gathering over 9,000 signatures in recent weeks as part of efforts to overturn Pakhshan Azizi’s death sentence.

Despite repeated requests, no information has been provided about the charges against the two detainees or their current whereabouts.