Benyamin Rahimpour, a former political prisoner, was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, on 21 January and taken to Shahramfar Detention Centre, a facility controlled by this military-security body.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that IRGC intelligence agents raided Rahimpour’s shop and arrested him without a warrant.

During the operation, the agents confiscated the shop’s security cameras and later raided his family home, creating a climate of fear by brandishing firearms.

They also confiscated some of his personal belongings during the raid.

Previously, on 3 May 2020, he and his brother Taregh Rahimpour were arrested by security forces and was released weeks later on a bail of three billion rials (nearly 4,000 USD).

Later, Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeidi, sentenced him to six months in prison and an 18-month suspended imprisonment on charges of “acting against national security” through alleged links to a Kurdish opposition group.

Rahimpour was imprisoned in February 2023 to serve his sentence.