The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, northwestern Iran, has issued a bail of 8 billion Tomans, nearly 320,000 USD, for the release of the Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Moradi.
This decision by Branch 1 of the court on 27 February could lead to the temporary release of Moradi who has been in detention since April 2018.
In addition, the trial of the Kurdish civilian on charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi) through membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) was held by video conference and the final verdict is scheduled to be issued in the coming days.
On 12 May 2021, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, sentenced Moradi to 40 years in prison and internal exile to Orumiyeh Central Prison.
It charged the political prisoner with “armed insurrection” (baghi) through membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI).
In October 2021, Branch 34 of the country’s Supreme Court referred the case to Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad for review due to the insufficiency of the case file.
Reportedly, the political prisoner is in poor physical condition due to a hernia.
Despite the advice of the prison’s medical doctors that he needed to be treated in an out-of-prison hospital and the consent of the prison supervising judge, the prison head has been rejecting his transfer to a hospital to undergo medical treatment.
Mohammad Moradi, a resident of Qabar Hoseyn village of Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province, was arrested on 22 April 2018 upon his entry to the country from the Kileh border crossing in Sardasht by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Piranshahr, after his family coordinated his return from Iraqi Kurdistan to Iran with the IRGC.
After his arrest, he was taken to the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Orumiyeh.
He was subjected to the most severe tortures for 45 days in this detention centre to make forced confessions about his alleged “membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and return to Iran for armed operations”.
Moradi, 35, is married and has two children. He is also the brother of two kolbars Sadegh Moradi and Abdolrahman Moradi who were shot and tortured to death by the IRGC forces in the Kotran border area in the Qandil Mountains in October 2019.
