Arrest of 11 Kurdish Activists in Marivan on Charges of Supporting Afrin Kurds

Kurdish media report the arrest of several civil activists, including "Adnan Hassanpour," in the city of Marivan. The number of detainees is reported to be between "9 to 11 people." Kurdpa, the Kurdistan news agency, wrote that on the evening of Tuesday, March 12, five civil activists from Marivan were arrested by intelligence forces. This website announced the names of the detainees as "Adnan Hassanpour, Arman Ghafouri, Mohammad Danesh, Faramarz Mohammadi, and Nasih Bakhshi." According to this report, "the intelligence forces arrested these five Kurdish civil activists on charges of participating in a gathering supporting Afrin." Adnan Hassanpour, a journalist and civil activist among the detainees, was released from prison on September 11, 2016, after serving 10 years. He had collaborated with the banned weekly "Asu" in Marivan, and was accused of "mapping nine military centers and providing their details" to armed Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic Republic and "smuggling wanted individuals across the Marivan border." Kurdpa also reported that the identities of four other detainees have been obtained, including: Hiwa Fadaei, Diyar Yazdani, Ahmad Iranpanah, and Hiwa Naderi. The human rights organization "Hengaw" also stated that two women are among the detainees whose identities are not known. Hengaw also mentioned that according to unconfirmed reports, "a woman and a man were also arrested during the gathering of people in Kamyaran." According to this report, "at five o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, a number of citizens from various Kurdish cities in Iran took to the streets in support of the people of Afrin." Following the advance of Turkish military forces in Kurdish areas of Syria, including Afrin, Kurds in various countries around the world have protested and expressed their objections to this action. The clashes in this region, which have caused thousands of residents of Afrin to flee, have also sparked international criticism. The Turkish government claims it is seeking to suppress the People's Protection Units accused of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been engaged in conflict with state forces since 1984. Kurdish media, including Kurdistan Media, recently reported the death of a young Kurdish student named "Talab Basati" in the "detention center of the Ilam Intelligence Department, due to severe injuries caused by torture." According to this report, his family has been under severe pressure from security forces, and his body was buried on March 7 "under heavy security measures." He was arrested on charges of "contacts with Kurdish opposition groups" and "filming popular and anti-government protests" in Ilam in December. In recent months, judicial officials have confirmed the deaths of at least four people in prison, attributing the cause to "suicide." Kavous Seyed Emami, a professor at Imam Sadiq University and environmental activist, is one of the most well-known of these prisoners, who was accused of "espionage" by security officials.