Sakineh Parvaneh, Kurdish Political Prisoner, Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Prison

Sakineh Parvaneh, a Kurdish political prisoner, has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on charges of 'propaganda against the regime,' 'assembly and collusion,' and 'insulting the leadership of the Islamic Republic.' According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Ms. Parvaneh was recently transferred from the women's section of Mashhad Central Prison to the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in the city and was informed of her sentence. One of the instances cited in the charges against Sakineh Parvaneh was her presence at the grave of Ali Mozaffari, one of the victims of the protests against the killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in Quchan. The report states that Ms. Parvaneh's court session was held in early September of this year without the presence of her appointed lawyer at the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, and since the issuance of the sentence, the court has not yet allowed her lawyer access to the case or the opportunity to appeal the ruling. Despite Sakineh Parvaneh suffering from respiratory and heart issues during this time, prison authorities have prevented her from being transferred to medical facilities. Her phone calls with her family must also be short, conducted in the presence of prison guards, and in Persian. Sakineh Parvaneh was arrested on April 15 at the Mashhad terminal by agents of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was transferred to Mashhad Central Prison on April 25. She was released from prison on February 15, 2023, after four years of sentencing following a general amnesty and was detained again for four days in Tehran in mid-March of the same year. In June 2020, Sakineh Parvaneh was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of prohibition from political group membership for alleged membership in 'opposition groups' to the Islamic Republic. She was transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran to Quchan Prison and then to Mashhad Central Prison in November of the same year. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Sakineh Parvaneh has been subjected to physical and psychological torture by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for forced confessions several times over the past years and has gone on hunger strikes multiple times.