Sanandaj: Violent Arrest of Awat Karami by Security Forces and Transfer to an Unknown Location

August 12, 2026; On the evening of Sunday, August 9, 2026, Awat Karami, an environmental activist from the village of "Nogel" in the district of the city of Sanandaj, was arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.

According to an informed source, security forces arrested this Kurdish citizen at his home located in the village of "Nogel" without presenting a judicial warrant and through the use of violence.

The informed source added: Following his arrest, this environmental activist has been deprived of access to a lawyer and family visits.

The informed source stated: The efforts of Awat Karami's family to obtain information about his fate have been unsuccessful.

Until the time of publication of this news, no information is available regarding the reason for the arrest or the charges brought against this Kurdish citizen.

Awat Karami was also arrested by security forces on January 16, 2019, and after several months of interrogation in the detention center of the Intelligence Office and the Shahramfar detention center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence in Sanandaj, he was temporarily released on bail in June 2019.

He was later sentenced by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj to 40 months of discretionary imprisonment on charges of "acting against national security through cooperation with one of the Kurdish opposition parties to the Iranian government".