Haji Barzeh, a Kurdish language teacher from Piranshahr, and a member of the Bayan Kurdish Language Institute, was sent to Naqadeh Prison on 18 December to serve a five-month prison sentence, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.

A few weeks ago, the Second Criminal Court in Piranshahr, presided over by Judge Amir Mohammadi, sentenced Barzeh to five months in prison for “propaganda against the state” and fined him 150 million rials (nearly 2,000 USD) for “spreading false information”.

Barzeh was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence in Piranshahr on 8 May and taken to the ministry’s detention centre in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province.

After initial interrogation, he was transferred to Naqadeh Prison and later provisionally released on 27 May on bail of 25 billion rials (nearly 33,000 USD).

Notably, his brother Bapir Barzeh, a political prisoner, was also transferred to the same prison earlier in January 2024 to serve a sentence of four years and six months.