Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, has sentenced Kurdish political prisoners Rauf Sheikh-Maroufi and Mohammad Faraji to death after three years in prison without a final verdict, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
Sheikh-Maroufi and Faraji, who are from Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province, were arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising and convicted of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz), respectively.
“These two political prisoners were tried in recent months in two separate proceedings at Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, and were officially notified of their death sentences in Bukan Prison on Tuesday, 24 February 2026”, an informed source told the KHRN.
Ministry of Intelligence forces arrested Sheikh-Maroufi in Bukan on 26 December 2022 and arrested Faraji in the same city on 22 February 2023.
Sheikh-Maroufi was held for 170 days in the Ministry’s detention facility in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, while Faraji was detained there for three and a half months.
During this period, both were subjected to severe physical and psychological torture aimed at extracting forced confessions.
After the interrogations concluded, they were transferred to Bukan Prison.
Since their arrest, their families have faced pressure and threats from security bodies over publicising the situation of their sons.
In previous years, KHRN’s reporting had warned of the risk of death sentences being issued against the two prisoners.
