Farokh Abdi is the manager of the Telegram channel Amanj and a media activist who was born in Urmia in northwest Iran. He was arrested in February 2018.

The Amanj channel covers news related to Iran’s Kurdistan region. Its mission statement is the “conservation and recognition of Kurdish literature and culture.” Abdi was arrested in Qeshm in early February 2018; two days after being transferred to Tehran, he was transferred to the Urmia Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center where he was interrogated about his Telegram channel and his posts to the channel.

Abdi was sentenced to a total of three years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” (one year imprisonment) and “insulting the Supreme Leader of Islamic Republic” (two years imprisonment). After he objected against the ruling, Branch 1 of the Urmia Court of Appeals reduced his sentence to 15 months in prison.

The evidence used to support these accusations was his invitation to people to join a protest rally which was being organised in opposition to the Turkish army’s attacks against the city of Afrin in Syria.

In March 2018, Abdi was also sentenced to another 15 months in prison on the accusation of “collaborating with a Kurdish party opposed to the Islamic Republic.” In August 2018, he was again sentenced to a further 15 months imprisonment on “blasphemy” charges.

Therefore, in total, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Codes, Abdi was sentenced to five years imprisonment on the accusation of “gathering and colluding against national security.”

During his imprisonment, Abdi was held in Sections 3 and 4 of Urmia Prison, which are the sections for high-risk prisoners and drug-related crimes. He had repeatedly called for the principle of the segregation of criminals in prison to be respected, and to be moved to a lower risk section of the prison, but officials kept him in these sections of the prison illegally until the end of his prison sentence.

Farokh Abdi was included in the list of pardons of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on the 2019 celebration of the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. He was released from Urmia Prison on April 23, 2019.