Arrest

Ashkan Fahim was arrested along with several other activists during a raid on his home in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, by dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence agents on 15 September 2023.

The military-security forces forcibly arrested the activist after breaking down the doors and windows of his house.

Fahim suffered bleeding injuries after being hit by the butt of a soldier’s rifle.

He was subjected to severe torture for a month in the IRGC Intelligence Organisation’s detention centre at Al-Mahdi Base in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, and was subsequently transferred to Mahabad Prison on 18 October 2023.

Judicial Process

In December 2023, the Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mahabad, presided over by Judge Dousti, sentenced Fahim to three years and nine months imprisonment and two years of exile on charges of “assembly and collusion” through membership of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK).

Current Status

Fahim is currently being held in Mahabad Prison.

Despite suffering from skin and heart conditions and requiring urgent medical attention, the IRGC Intelligence Organisation has denied his request for medical leave.

Notes:

1. Article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code: “If two or more individuals gather and conspire to commit crimes against the internal or external security of the country or to facilitate the means for committing such crimes, they shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment, unless they are considered mohareb (those who commit enmity against God).”

2. The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) was established in 2004 in the Qandil Mountains along the border of Iraqi Kurdistan with Iranian Kurdistan. This party follows the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and bases its activities on the paradigm of a “democratic and ecological society based on women’s freedom”.

According to the party’s charter, PJAK considers the establishment of democratic confederalism and a political form of democratic self-governance for organising people to build a “democratic nation” as one of its fundamental goals. PJAK also participated in the establishment of the East Kurdistan Democratic and Free Society (KODAR). The headquarters of this party is in the mountainous areas between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iranian Kurdistan.