Turkish police have detained on 7 April a former Kurdish woman political prisoner, who holds Iranian citizenship, in Kayseri, central Turkey, and have transferred her to the city’s centre for the deportation of asylum seekers.
Fatemeh Davand left Iran in January 2022 and has been living in Turkey as a political asylum-seeker ever since.
“I was detained by the police for no reason in a shopping mall in the city of Kayseri. After they took me to a police station and took my fingerprints, they transferred me to the central camp for the deportation of asylum-seekers outside the city of Kayseri”, said Davand in an interview with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
The former political prisoner added that the authorities had not yet explained the reason for her detention and transfer to this centre. However, given the location of her transfer, there is a serious risk that she could be deported to Iran.
Background
Fatemeh Davand, a Kurdish civilian from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province, was detained by security forces in Bukan during a public protest rally in November 2019.
She was subjected to mental torture and pressure for 13 days in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province, to make forced confessions.
A video of Davand’s forced confessions was broadcasted in the media of the Islamic Republic of Iran a few days after her detention.
After completing the interrogation period in the detention centre of the intelligence ministry, she was transferred to the Women’s Ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison.
The political prisoner was released on 25 March 2020, on a bail of 1 billion Tomans – nearly 40,000 USD.
In May 2020, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad sentenced her to five years in prison on charges of “acting against national security.” It was later commuted to three years and nine months in prison.
She was also tried in another case in February 2021 at Branch 103 of the 2nd Criminal Court of Bukan on charges of “disrupting public order and peace by participating in riots” and “removing the hijab.”
In this court, which was presided over by Judge Mahdi Taghizadeh, she was acquitted of the charge of removing the hijab but was sentenced to five months imprisonment and 30 lashes for the other accusation.
Davand was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison on 6 August 2020 to serve her prison sentence.
She was released from prison in November 2021 after her application for parole was accepted, and left Iran for Turkey in January 2022.
Davand was one of the witnesses to the International Aban Tribunal, which was held in November 2021 in London at the initiative of human rights organisations.
