Uncertainty Surrounds the Fate of 8 Environmental Activists in Gilan-e Gharb; IRGC Attempts to Fabricate Charges Against Them

The uncertainty surrounding the fate of 8 civil and environmental activists from Gilan-e Gharb, who were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence forces in late August, continues. The human rights organization "Hengaw" reported on Friday, September 2, citing its sources, that Maria Khani, Mohsen Esfandiari, Arash Alfti, Jahangir Azadi, Lotfollah Parviz, Hamidreza Rahimian, Salman Parhan, and Mohammad Parviz have remained in limbo since their arrest. According to reports received by Hengaw, "there is no accurate information regarding the fate and place of detention of these 8 Kurdish civil and environmental activists from Gilan-e Gharb, and the families' inquiries have yielded no results." Family members of the detainees stated that the IRGC intends to fabricate charges against these detainees with "baseless accusations," linking their activities to "disrespect towards the people and officials, and connections with opposition parties and foreign intelligence services." They also mentioned that there have been attempts to fabricate cases against political activists from Gilan-e Gharb residing outside of Iran. Arash Alfti and Mohammad Parviz were arrested on Thursday, August 25, while 6 others were detained earlier on August 13, along with two others, Ali Faraj Khani and Mostafa Rostami, who were released later. Hengaw had previously reported that the detainees were collaborators of the "Campaign" for collecting signatures for the "Save Zagros Campaign" and actively participated in controlling and extinguishing recent forest fires in the region. According to this human rights organization, sensitivity towards civil, cultural, and environmental activists in this city has intensified following the last Nowruz ceremony, which was attended by more than 30,000 people. At least 8 environmental activists from Gilan-e Gharb have been arrested. Hengaw reported the sentencing of five women activists from Gilan to a total of more than 20 years in prison. Security confrontations occurred after the burial of an environmental activist; at least 10 civil activists were arrested in Kamyaran. Government agents attacked a meeting of the "Chia Green Association"; at least 25 environmental activists were arrested.