The Iranian security forces arrested two cultural activists in Kermanshah, sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Fouad Mozaffari, a poet, and Farzad Safareh, a writer, were detained on 18 December by security forces in their family homes.
The reason for the arrest of these two Kurdish activists and the charges against them remain unclear who were also arrested earlier in September 2018 for organising a rally in protest to the Kurdish border porters, known as Kolbar, in Kermanshah’s Park Koodak along with several other Kurdish activists. They were released on bail after ten days.
The KHRN has also been informed that, while the two activists were being detained, security forces had sought to arrest the families of two other cultural activists, Mohsen Maleki and Mohammad Eskandari, in the city of Kermanshah. However, the security forces failed to arrest them as they were not at home.
Farzad Safareh and Fuad Mozafari are still being detained while another Kurdish cultural activist has been arrested in Kermanshah this week. Anissa Jafari Mehr, a member of the Writers’ Council of the literary magazine “J”, who was detained on 19 December morning in Islamabad located at the west of Kermanshah province, was released on bail after hours of questioning at the Intelligence department of Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Ahmad Basati, Dariush Moradi and Sohrab Moradi, author and researcher, in addition to a cultural activist called Abbas Jalilian (nown as Ako) from west of Islamabad are still in custody. They are all reportedly detained at the IRGC detention centre in Kermanshah at the moment.
Abbas Jalilian, one of the prominent figures in the Kurdish language and literature, was arrested earlier this year for his cultural trips to the Iraqi Kurdistan. He was charged with “collaborating with the enemies of government” and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
