Branch 103 of the Criminal Court 2 in Ilam, in western Iran, sentenced former Kurdish political prisoner Khadijeh Mehdipour to three months and one day in prison on 17 May on charges of “spreading lies online to disturb public opinion”.

Mehdipour was previously arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Ilam on 10 October 2021.

After two days of interrogation by this military-security organisation, she was transferred to the city’s central prison.

A few weeks later, Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ilam, headed by Judge Parvaneh, sentenced her to 20 months in prison.

The court charged her with “propaganda against the state”, “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “insulting the [supreme] leadership”.

In February, she was released from Ilam Central Prison under a judicial amnesty.

She was previously arrested by security forces on 10 October 2020 and later sentenced to pay a fine in lieu of imprisonment.