Ministry of Intelligence arrests PJAK member in Kamyaran

Sirwan Habibi, a member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, has been arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in Kamyaran and taken to an undisclosed location.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that on the evening of 8 September, Ministry of Intelligence agents in dozens of vehicles surrounded the Besat neighbourhood of Kamyaran.

At 01:00 the following day, the agents pursued Habibi while he was travelling on a motorcycle.

Eyewitnesses said a vehicle carrying Ministry of Intelligence agents rammed the motorcycle at high speed. After the collision threw him to the ground, the agents violently arrested him.

When residents gathered at the scene, security forces fired into the air to disperse the crowd.

Despite his family’s enquiries over the past few days, the security agencies have refused to provide any information about Habibi’s fate or place of detention.

In a statement issued on 14 September, PJAK said Habibi was unarmed and had been arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence while on an organisational mission. The party added that his fate remained unknown.