Saqqez: Sheikh Zahid Shahabi Released on Bail

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Sheikh Zahid Shahabi, brother of Sheikh Azad Shahabi, was released from Saqqez Prison on bail after 66 days of arbitrary detention.

According to a reliable source, during his detention, Sheikh Zahid was denied access to legal representation and family visits. After his arrest, he was transferred to a security detention center in Sanandaj for interrogation.

In the early morning of Tuesday, March 25, 2025, agents from the Saqqez Intelligence Office violently raided the “Rah-e Azadi” (Path of Freedom) Sufi lodge and arrested Sheikh Zahid without a judicial warrant. The raid occurred at 5 a.m., during which his family was verbally abused, and his mobile phone and several personal belongings were confiscated.

Background: Public Speech and Security Repression
On Friday, March 15, 2025, at the start of the Nowruz celebration on Mount Jaqal, Sheikh Zahid delivered a public address, invoking a renewed pledge to the martyrs, and calling for unity and freedom. Together with attendees, he chanted the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom). He also lit the ceremonial fire, marking the event’s opening.

On the evening of Tuesday, October 15, 2024, following the engraving of the word “martyr” and a Kurdish poem on the gravestone of Sheikh Azad Shahabi, security forces raided the lodge and physically assaulted members of the Shahabi family and the resident dervishes.

Context: The Assassination of Sheikh Azad Shahabi
On July 18, 2024, Sheikh Azad Shahabi, a prominent Sufi figure in Kurdistan, was assassinated by armed assailants at his lodge in Saqqez, along with two companions, Peyman Mohammadi and Parviz Rahimpanah.

In a special interview published by Kurdpa, a close associate of Sheikh Azad stated that the Islamic Republic had a direct interest in his physical elimination, as part of a broader strategy to foster internal conflict and weaken grassroots unity.