Afshin Sheykholeslami Vatani

Afshin Sheykholeslami Vatani

He was arrested several times. Afshin Sheykholeslami was also arrested in the collective arrest of environmentalists and members of the Vahdat Melli (Iran National Union Party) in Kurdistan

  • <coverage-outsourcing id='23998'> During a raid in early 2019 that lasted several days, a number of civil and environmental activists in Kamyaran, Sanandaj and nearby cities were arrested by the agents of the Intelligence Ministry. In days that followed, few officials connected these arrests to the murder of an ambulance driver called Koohsar Fatehi and even asked for capital punishment for them. These officials included Molatofiq Qorbani, Sunni Friday Prayer leader of Kamyaran; Khalil Azizi, head of the Kamyaran City Council and Hossein Khosheqbal, deputy provincial governor of Kurdistan. They said the activities of the arrestees -- a number of whom were members of the National Unity Party -- was a cover to aid PJAK. PJAK issued a statement to deny this claim. Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) also published a report on the arrests and said the reason for them was the government’s continuing attempt to suppress civil society in Kurdistan. Based on this report, security forces once told the family of Koohsar Fatehi that those who murdered their son were members of a Kurdish party and had been killed in an IRGC operation. But KHRN doubts that Fatehi’s murder was political. Among the arrestees are those who were known for environmental or civic activism and numerous reports have been published detailing their civic activities. In the weeks that followed, the IRGC also came to the fore and arrested more environmental activists and also members of the Kurdistan branch of the National Unity Party. Data collected by the IPA shows that security bodies are not happy about civil activities in Kurdistan province and arrest of civil activists in the region has become a norm </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='24069'> He was released on bail </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='29803'> <reference source='https://mafnews.de/news/%d9%85%d8%ad%da%a9%d9%88%d9%85%db%8c%d8%aa-%d8%b4%d8%b4-%d8%b4%d9%87%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%af%d8%b1-%d8%b3%d9%86%d9%86%d8%af%d8%ac-%d9%88-%da%a9%d8%b1%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%b4%d8%a7%d9%87-%d8%a8/'> He was sentenced to one month in prison by the Revolutionary Court </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='32728'> <reference source='https://humanrightsinir.org/afshinsheikholeslami-humanrightsiniran/'> He was released on bail </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>