The family of Ramin Kardani, a Kurdish activist from Saqqez, said he has been sentenced to four years in prison for organizing rallies in support of the 2017 independence referendum and for producing propaganda against the Iranian regime on social media, according to Hengaw, an independent human rights organization based in Erbil.
Kardani was arrested last year, but freed after 15 days. However, he was later sentenced to four years. Kardani appealed the sentence, but was unsuccessful.
Iranian officials and state media denounced the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum of September 25, branding it a threat to regional stability. This didn’t stop thousands of Iranian Kurds in various cities of Iranian Kurdistan taking to the streets in solidarity ahead of referendum day.
Last week, journalist Bakhtiar Khoshnaw was sentenced to 74 lashes and fined 1,800,000 toman ($409) for undermining public order by organizing gatherings in support of the referendum and for sending reports to foreign media outlets, Hengaw reports.
In response to the referendum, in which 93 percent voted for separation from Iraq, the Iranian government applied maximum pressure on the Kurdistan Region to void the result – closing border crossings and suspending flights to Erbil and Sulaimani airports.
Iran has a large Kurdish minority of around eight to ten million. Tehran is concerned that any move towards Kurdish independence in neighboring states will provoke nationalism among Iranian Kurds, who have long struggled for their own political rights.
_(1).webp&w=3840&q=75)
