September 22, 2026 — Khabat Dehdar, a labor activist and former political prisoner with a history of multiple arrests, convictions, and summonses, has been sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 5 million Tomans on charges of "propaganda against the state." Additionally, he has been mandated to report to security agencies every three months to register his presence.

This sentence pertains to his most recent detention. On February 10, 2026, Dehdar was arrested at his workplace by security forces without a judicial warrant and transferred to an undisclosed location. On March 14, 2026, after 32 days of arbitrary detention, he was temporarily released on bail. During his arrest, security personnel also raided and searched his family home.

Born in 1983 in Sanandaj, Dehdar is a member of the "Chel Chemeh" cultural and mountaineering group, a board member of the Campaign for Drinking Water Demands and Water Resource Protection in Sanandaj, and a member of the joint secretariat of local civil activists. Since 2010, he has faced recurring arrests, court trials, and security threats, including detentions in 2021, 2022, and 2023, as well as formal summonses and threats in 2023 and 2024.

Prior History of Arrests, Sentences, and Summonses

●  March 6, 2025: A group of labor activists in Sanandaj—including Tayyeb Chetani, Lotfollah Ahmadi, Iqbal Shabani, Khabat Dehdar, Jamal Asadi, and Payam Fathi—were threatened via telephone by the Sanandaj Intelligence Office that any attempts to organize or attend International Women's Day (March 8) gatherings would face legal prosecution.

● September 19, 2023: Dehdar and his brother, Ramyar Dehdar, were arrested following a violent raid on their family home by security forces without a judicial warrant. Security agents confiscated their mobile phones and verbally abused family members. Dehdar was released on a 200-million-Toman bail after 12 days on October 0, 2023. On November 17, 2023, Branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court sentenced him to a 12-month suspended prison sentence for "propaganda against the state."

● October 20, 2022: During the "Woman, Life, Freedom" (Jin, Jiyan, Azadî) uprising, Dehdar was arrested by security forces and held arbitrarily for 10 days before being released on bail from Sanandaj Prison on October 29, 2022.

● February 8, 2022: Security forces arrested Dehdar on a street in Sanandaj without presenting a warrant and transferred him to an unknown location.

● March 1, 2016: One day after completing his previous suspended sentence, Dehdar was arrested on charges of "propaganda against the state" and subjected to arbitrary solitary confinement at the Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Kurdistan Province. After being released on bail, the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court sentenced him to three months and 10 days of discretionary imprisonment. This ruling triggered the conversion of a prior 5-year suspended sentence into enforceable imprisonment. On May 12, 2016, he was transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison to serve his term, and was eventually released on April 12, 2020, after serving four years and four months.

● 2010: Dehdar was first arrested in 2010 and released shortly thereafter. On March 2, 2011, the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court handed him a five-year suspended prison sentence.

● March 14, 2020: Kurdpa reported that five Kurdish labor activists—Khabat Dehdar, Hadi Tanomand, Zanyar Dabbaghian, Tofiq Mahmoudi, and Ishaq Rouhi—remained imprisoned in Sanandaj Central Prison without medical or temporary furlough rights, despite a judicial directive mandating temporary leave for prisoners charged with "acting against national security" who were serving sentences under five years.