Kurdish civilian from Maku
Detention date: 30 June 2008
Charged with: Membership of the PJAK
Sentence: 30 years in prison and internal exile to the Yazd Central Prison
Current status: Imprisoned in Yazd Central Prison
Khaled (Sadegh) Zamani, a Kurdish political prisoner from Maku, was arrested by Iranian security forces on 30 June 2008. He was interrogated and subjected to severe torture for several weeks in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Khoy.
Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Khoy – presided over by Judge Nowrouzi – sentenced Zamani to “amputation of the left arm and the right leg” on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) through “membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK)”.
The verdict was referred to the Supreme Court of Iran following Zamani’s appeal against it. He was then sentenced to 30 years in prison and exile in Yazd Central Prison by the Court of Appeals of Orumiyeh.
There was no evidence in Zamani’s case saying he was a member of the PJAK or a collaborator in the armed operations of the movement.
Zamani was first kept in Maku Prison and then internally exiled to Yazd Central Prison on 21 December 2009.
In 2020, the prisoner’s lawyer submitted a request for a retrial under the new article of the Iranian Islamic Penal Code, but so far there has been no response from the relevant institutions.
Fasih Yasamani, one of Zamani’s co-defendants, was sentenced to death on similar charges.
Yasamani was executed on 9 December 2009 in Khoy Prison.
Zamani is the father of four and is currently serving his 30-year sentence. Despite his right to, and the consent from Yazd Central Prison, his requests for temporary leave have been denied.
