The Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bukan, West Azerbaijan province, has sentenced Masoud Kurdpour, the editor-in-chief of Mukrian News Agency, to a total of 17 months in prison.
The court charged the Kurdish journalist with “propaganda against the state” and “disrupting public order”, Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
Security forces arrested Kurdpour at his family home in Bukan on 20 September 2022 and took him to the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province.
After initial interrogations, he was transferred to Miandoab Prison, in West Azerbaijan province. He was recently transferred to Bukan Prison.
On 30 November 2022, the journalist was tried in the form of a video conference and the verdict was communicated to him in Bukan prison over the past few days.
The verdict stated that Kurdpour had been sentenced to 17 months in jail as follows: nine months for “propaganda against the state” and eight months for “disrupting public order”.
If the sentence is upheld by the Provincial Appeals Court, the most severe sentence, i.e. nine months in jail will be enforceable according to the Law on the Consolidation of Sentences.
