An Iranian court has released on parole Kurdish woman political prisoner Shahnaz Sadeghifar on 27 January.
Sadeghifar’s release from Orumiyeh Central Prison, in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, came after Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh approved her appeal for release on parole.
In March 2021, the same court, headed by Judge Ali Sheikhlou, had sentenced the political prisoner to five years and one day in prison on charges of “membership in the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK)”.
In April 2021, after about 20 months in detention, she was temporarily released from Orumiyeh Central Prison on 150 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 6,000 USD – bail.
However, on 14 November 2021, the Ministry of Intelligence in Orumiyeh summoned the activist and sent her to Orumiyeh Central Prison once again.
A source familiar with the political prisoner’s case had previously spoken to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) regarding her situation.
According to this source, a few years ago, Sadeghifar and her daughter Ainaz Zaare went to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and were active in the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) for several years.
However, in August 2019, they returned to Iran due to the “insistence of their families and in coordination with the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)”.
The source said that the border guards of Siranband in Baneh had detained Sadeghifar and her daughter upon their entry to Iran. But they released the two upon an inquiry from the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Orumiyeh.
Two days later, Sadeghifar and her daughter presented themselves to this military-security institution in Orumiyeh.
The source added that Sadeghifar and her daughter were tortured during their detention. Security interrogators asked Sadeghifar to collaborate with the IRGC and pressed them to obtain forced confessions.
“Ms Sadeghifar and her 17-year-old daughter Ainaz Zaare were held in the same cell for about two months and were under constant interrogation. They were then transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison”, the source said.
The political prisoner’s court hearing was held at Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh – presided over by Judge Ali Sheikhlou – on 21 July 2020.
Two days later, she was informed that she had been sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of “acting against national security” through membership in the PAK.
Later, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling due to missing files in the case and referred it again to Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh.
In March 2021, the court sentenced Sadeghifar to five years and one day in prison.
She was then released from prison on a bail of 150 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 6,000 USD – pending finalisation of the sentence.
Separately, Sadeghifar’s daughter Ainaz Zaare was released from prison on 16 November 2020 after spending 15 months in jail.
