Kurdish political prisoner Hossein Kamangar was temporarily released from Sanandaj Central Prison in Iran’s northwestern Kurdistan province on 19 January.
He has been released on a bail of one billion Iranian Tomans – nearly 40,000 USD.
Kamangar was detained in January 2019 during the wave of widespread arrests of civil rights activists and members of the Kurdistan branch of the National Unity Party in the cities of Sanandaj, Kamyaran, and Marivan in Kurdistan province.
In March 2021, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj – headed by Judge Saeidi – sentenced Kamangar to 15 years in prison.
It charged Kamangar with “armed insurrection” (baghi) through “membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK)”.
However, Branch 39 of the country’s Supreme Court overturned the ruling and referred the case to another branch of the Sanandaj court for review.
The trial was then held on 11 January at Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj – presided over by Judge Sharafi. The court’s final ruling has been postponed to the near future.
Meanwhile, the court agreed to an appeal for the temporary release of the prisoner. He was temporarily released from Sanandaj Central Prison on a one billion Tomans bail.
Kamangar was arrested on 5 January 2019 in Kamyaran. Security forces had banned him from family visits and phone calls for several months after his arrest.
During this period, the activist’s wife Nasrin Naghdi and his daughter Nahid Kamangar were repeatedly summoned and interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence in Kamyaran.
In July 2019, Kamangar went on a hunger strike for three weeks to protest against the continuing uncertainty in his situation and his denial of his right to contact his family.
He finally ended his hunger strike on 7 August 2019 after he was allowed to contact his family through a phone call.
