Iran's Judiciary Accuses Three Protesters in Boukan of 'Corruption on Earth' and 'Waging War'

The Islamic Revolutionary Court has issued an indictment against Raouf Sheikh Maroofi, Kamran Soltani, and Mohammad Faraji, three protesting citizens in Boukan, accusing them of charges including 'corruption on earth' and 'waging war'. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network on Tuesday, August 8, the case of these three citizens, who were arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022 in Boukan by agents of one of the intelligence agencies of the Islamic Republic, has been sent to the first branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mahabad. The report states that Raouf Sheikh Maroofi has been charged with 'corruption on earth' in a case currently underway in the first branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mahabad, and there is another case pending against him in the first branch of the Boukan Criminal Court, of which the charges are unknown. According to the report, Kamran Soltani and Mohammad Faraji are also accused of 'waging war' in a joint case that is ongoing in the first branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mahabad. Raouf Sheikh Maroofi was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on December 26, 2022, in Boukan. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, after two days of 'physical and psychological torture' in a detention center of the intelligence agency in the city, he was transferred to the 'detention center of the Urmia Intelligence Office' where he was held for '170 days' before being transferred to Boukan Prison on June 9, 2023. The report also states that Mohammad Faraji was arrested on February 22, 2023, and Kamran Soltani on February 27 of the same year by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in Boukan and were transferred to the Urmia Intelligence Office. According to this report, these two Kurdish citizens were subjected to 'three and a half months of physical and psychological torture for forced confessions' and were also transferred to Boukan Prison on June 9, 2023. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network also emphasizes that currently, the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic have attributed charges of 'corruption on earth, rebellion, and waging war' to 'at least 11 citizens' who have been detained in the past two years; charges that under the laws of the Islamic Republic could lead to the death penalty. Simultaneously, the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic have also accused eight other citizens, including Nasim Gholami Simiyari, Ehsan Ravazgian, Amin Sokhanvar, Hossein Mohammadi Hosseini, Amir Shah Valayati, Ali Herati Mokhtari, and Hossein Ardestani in Tehran of 'rebellion'. Additionally, the judiciary has sentenced Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi, two civil activists, to death on charges of 'rebellion'. The issuance of these sentences has faced widespread reactions from domestic and international human rights activists and organizations.