The activist was promoting Azerbaijani language in Iran.
Another Azerbaijani Turk activist Akbar Naimi has received a lengthy prison term in Iran.
An appellation court in Tehran on July 22 upheld the court decision to sentence Naimi to a combined nine years and eight months in jail.
He has been given five years in prison on charges of membership in an illegal organization, to four years on charges of assembling and conspiring against the national security, to eight months in prison on charges of propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
In addition, Naimi was given a two-year ban to leave Iran, two-year ban on membership in political and public organizations and groups. He has also been convicted of drafting a 90-page research paper on “colonial policies that promote ethnicity”.
Akbar Naimi was detained on January 22 in 2020 by intelligence agents while he was at work in the repair department of the national airliner in Tehran.
He was transferred to Security Unit 209 of the Evvin Prison and was later released on bail. Before being granted the bail, Iran’s security forces did not allow Naimi call his family for about a month, during which time there was no information about his health or where he was being held.
Born in Khoi city in Iran’s Azarbaycan province, Naimi has studied mechanical engineering.
He used to be the member of now-closed Evrin NGO and Gunabakhan Association – both of which were involved in promotion of Azerbaijani language.
Iran’s judiciary severely punishes Turkish activists living in Tehran.
Political prisoners such as Alirza Farshi, Kiyanush Aslani, Hamid Manafi Nadarli, Behnam Sheikh, Tovhid Amir Amini have been subjected to long-term detentions.
Iran’s Azerbaijani Turks, also known as Iranian Azerbaijanis (Azeris), are the largest minority group in Iran making up around 30 percent of its population. They have been struggling to protect their cultural rights and preserve their national identity despite Tehran’s attempts to stifle dissent and jail their activists. Of special importance for Azerbaijani Turks is the right to access education in their mother tongue.
