ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran is sending a Kurdish language teacher to jail for 10 years on a security charge. Civil rights activist Zahra Mohammadi was sentenced by a Sanandaj court this week. Mohammadi, 29, is director of the Nojin Cultural Association, an organization whose work includes teaching Kurdish language and literature. At the time of her arrest in May 2019, the association was teaching Kurdish to hundreds of children in and around Sanandaj, in Iran’s western Kurdistan province. She was initially accused of having links to two armed Kurdish groups, Komal and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), Idris Minbari, a member of Nojin told Rudaw English on Friday. Those accusations were dropped, however, and her jail sentence stems from a charge of “establishing a committee and group that is against the stability and security of the system,” he said. Nojin Cultural Association was also facing charges in a joint case, but was acquitted by the court while the file against Mohammadi went ahead. Minbari said their organization has no links to any political party and demands all new members must also have no political affiliation. In a live video shared on her Instagram channel, Mohammadi said she only did humanitarian work. “The crimes of Zara Mohammadi are: teaching mother tongue, distributing chocolates on Mother Tongue Day, and helping the victims of flooding in Loristan,” she said. “This is the humanitarian duty of each individual.” She called on the court to provide evidence that she or her organization have worked for any other group. Mohammadi was released on bail in December after her case gained worldwide attention and the support of Amnesty International. She “has been accused of co-operating with Kurdish opposition groups and charged with national security offences for her peaceful activities empowering members of Iran’s marginalized Kurdish community, including through teaching the Kurdish language,” Amnesty International wrote in their appeal for her release. A group of United Nations special rapporteurs said in July 2019 they were concerned about her detention “and the apparent criminalization of her educational activities, including the teaching of the Kurdish language.” Nozhin Cultural Association has worked for nearly a decade and was established with permission from provincial authorities. In the Kurdish-majority city of Sanandaj, like the rest of Iran, Persian is the only language of instruction in primary and secondary schools. Kurdish-language instruction is authorized under the Iranian constitution. Minbari said they plan to appeal the sentence.
