Security forces have arrested nine Kurdish citizens, including two minors, in the cities of Oshnavieh, Bukan, and Marivan, while three detained Kurdish siblings from Sanandaj have been temporarily released on bail after months of imprisonment.
On 7 October, Ministry of Intelligence agents raided the shop of civil rights activist and former political prisoner Hossein Gardeshi in one of the streets of Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province, and arrested him without presenting a court warrant, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
The agents also stormed his family home, insulted family members during the search, and confiscated several of his personal belongings.
Simultaneously, the forces raided the home of Gardeshi’s brother, Mohsen Gardeshi, who is also a civil rights activist and former political prison, and arrested him without a warrant after threatening family members at gunpoint.
The two brothers were previously arrested in January 2021 during a wave of arrests of Kurdish activists carried out by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Mohsen Gardeshi was released after several days in detention, while Hossein Gardeshi remained imprisoned for about two months before being released from Orumiyeh Central Prison on bail.
Over the past few years, the two civil rights activists have repeatedly been summoned and interrogated by security agencies.
Additionally, on 7 October, citizens Rebwar Mousavi (17), Zaher Azari (17), Keyvan Saeidi, and Fakhraddin Khaledi were arrested in Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan Province.
Mousavi and Azari were released after several hours of interrogation, but the fate and whereabouts of the other two remain unknown.
At around the same time, Kamran Soltani, from Bukan, and Hassan Mehrabi, from the village of Ney in Marivan, Kurdistan Province, were also arrested.
According to reports, security forces allegedly lured Mehrabi to the Marivan governor’s office under the false pretext of resolving a subsidy issue, arresting him on the street without a warrant when he arrived.
The following day, 8 October, security forces arrested Mobin Talebani, a university student from Marivan, without presenting a court warrant and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
Meanwhile, in Sanandaj in the Kurdistan Province, three siblings – Derakhshan, Zanyar and Edris Rahimi – arrested on 28 June on charges of “espionage for Israel” and “acting against national security” through alleged links to the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, were released on bail pending trial.
Derakhshan Rahimi was released on 6 October after 100 days in the women’s ward of the Sanandaj Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre, upon posting bail of 10 billion rials (approximately 10,000 USD).
Her brothers, Zanyar and Edris, were released last week after three months in Sanandaj Central Prison.
During their detention, the Rahimi siblings were denied family visits and access to legal counsel.
