Female Kurdish Prisoner Sentenced to 15 years

A local source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Branch One of Sanandaj Revolutionary Court under Judge Babaei has sentenced Safieh Sadeghi, 23, a resident of Salmas, to 15 years in prison on charges of “moharebeh” (enmity with God) through membership in the opposition PJAK group.

According to the human rights source, security forces from Sanandaj Intelligence Office arrested Safieh Sadeghi in November 2010. She was transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s Detention Center in Sanandaj, where she was interrogated for 4.5 months. Sadeghi was denied telephone calls or visitation with her family, and she was kept in solitary cells in order to extract confessions from her. The source further reported that for the first few days after her arrest, Safieh Sadeghi was severely beaten.

The source also told the Campaign that this political prisoner was deprived from selecting her own lawyer, and that her 15-year prison term was a result of a few minutes long court meeting at Branch One of Sanandaj Revolutionary Court. Safieh Sadeghi is currently inside the Sanandaj Women’s Prison.