A Citizen from Sanandaj Sentenced to 40 Lashes for 'Insulting a Government Official'

Human rights sources have reported the sentencing of a 55-year-old citizen from Sanandaj to forty lashes on the charge of 'insulting a government official.' According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, this ruling was recently issued by Branch 107 of the Criminal Court 2 in Sanandaj in relation to a complaint filed by government officials against Mohammad Jafar Mohammadi. The report states that the complaint was based on the indictment from the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Sanandaj. Meanwhile, this citizen's complaint against two law enforcement officers for 'entering his home and using violence and threats' was dismissed by the investigating judge of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Sanandaj. Intelligence forces violently broke down the door of this citizen's home on Tuesday, December 25, and arrested him. He was temporarily released eight days later on a bail of 200 million tomans until the conclusion of the legal proceedings. No information has been published regarding the charges against Mohammad Jafar Mohammadi at the time of this report. According to the monthly report of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, at least 12 citizens and Kurdish activists in the provinces of Tehran, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, and Ilam have faced political charges with sentences of execution, imprisonment, lashes, and fines in the current month. A 65-year-old protester was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges such as 'insulting' Khomeini and Khamenei. The monthly report of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network also noted that 10 Kurdish prisoners were executed in one month, and another Kurdish porter was fatally shot in Saqez; Ali Zargami had three children. Additionally, a citizen was arrested following a trip to visit the family of Mohammad Farahmandzadeh, a Kurdish prisoner who was executed.