Prison Sentences Issued for Four Sunni Clerics by Urmia Special Clergy Court

The Urmia Special Clergy Court sentenced four Sunni clerics from Piranshahr to a total of 11 years in prison. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Yunus Nowkhah and Suleiman Ahmadi, teachers at the Saladin Ayyubi Religious School in Piranshahr, and Sharif Mahmoudpour and Jamaleddin Vaji, from the Friday prayers of Pasveh in Piranshahr, were involved. The charges against these four Sunni clerics included 'actions against national security' and 'disturbing public opinion.' HRANA reported that these four clerics had previously been summoned and arrested and were released on bail. Human rights sources had previously reported an increase in the detention of Kurdish religious figures following widespread protests after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the morality police. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, at least 16 Kurdish clerics (Mamosta) were arrested and tried by government forces between December 2022 and June 2023. The trials of the Sunni clerics were conducted in the Special Clergy Court and by Shia clerics, and the defendants were deprived of basic civil rights, including the right to have a lawyer, and were not even allowed to defend themselves 'according to the religious principles of these clerics.' Additionally, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom had previously expressed concern about the increasing pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the detention of their leaders. The statement emphasized that many Sunni religious leaders, including those who called for peaceful dialogue between protesters and the government, have also been detained by the Islamic Republic.