Bukan: Rahim Shilani and Azad Rasoulifard Sentenced to a Total of 4 Years in Prison

August 10, 2026; Over the past few days, "Rahim Shilani" and "Azad Rasoulifard", two Kurdish citizens from the city of Bukan who were held in arbitrary detention for nearly 3 months and subsequently released temporarily on bail, were sentenced to a total of 4 years of discretionary imprisonment in connection with the charge of "buying and selling Starlink equipment".

An informed source confirmed this news to Kurdpa, stating: In recent days, "Rahim Shilani" and "Azad Rasoulifard" were each sentenced to 2 years of discretionary imprisonment by Branch 2 of the Criminal Court of the city of Bukan in connection with the charge of "buying and selling Starlink satellite equipment".

From a legal standpoint, the conviction of these two citizens faces serious ambiguity; they were arrested on January 30, 2026, while the law cited for the "prohibition and punishment of buying and selling Starlink equipment", under the "Plan to Intensify Punishments for Espionage and Cooperation with Hostile States", was passed in June 2025 and became enforceable after approval by the Guardian Council. Therefore, if the alleged buying and selling took place prior to the enforcement of this law, applying it to prior conduct would contradict the principle of legality of crime and punishment and the prohibition of retroactive application of criminal laws.

On Friday, January 30, 2026, "Azad Rasoulifard", son of Rahim, born in 1980, and "Rahim Shilani", son of Osman, born in 1975, both residents of the city of Bukan, were arrested by security forces without a judicial warrant and transferred to an unknown location.

On March 23, 2026, after 52 days of arbitrary detention, these two Kurdish citizens were transferred to the prison of the city of Bukan following physical torture and interrogation in one of the security detention centers, and their temporary release on bail was still denied, leaving them held in limbo in prison for several weeks.

In late April 2026, "Rahim Shilani" and "Azad Rasoulifard" were each temporarily released from the prison of this municipality on a bail of three billion Toman.

Throughout the nearly 3 months of arbitrary detention, these citizens were deprived of the right to access a lawyer and to meet with their families.