HRANA News Agency – Today, Karim Asghari, the brother-in-law of Vrisheh Moradi, a political prisoner sentenced to death, was arrested in Sanandaj by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, who reportedly beat him during the arrest.
Based on information received by HRANA, at 1 PM today, Sunday, June 8, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj went to Mr. Asghari’s workplace. After presenting a judicial warrant, they arrested him with physical violence.
A source close to the family confirmed the news and told HRANA: “In recent months, members of Varisheh Moradi’s family—including her sister Mehraneh Moradi and Karim Asghari—have been under increasing security pressure.” According to this source, after Varisheh’s arrest, her family has been summoned multiple times to the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj and has been repeatedly threatened with arrest. The source also reported that Mehraneh Moradi was directly threatened with arrest should she continue to follow up on her sister’s case. She had previously, in 2016, been detained along with Karim Asghari for three months.
The source added: “In recent months, as the family sought to pursue Varisheh’s medical treatment and raised concerns over her being denied visits, Karim Asghari was temporarily detained by plainclothes security forces in front of Evin Prison. He was held in a vehicle for three hours, interrogated, and threatened. The agents explicitly warned that any disclosure of information about the case is prohibited and that media coverage would provoke severe consequences.”
As of the time of this report, there is no information on the reasons for Mr. Asghari’s arrest, his place of detention, or the charges against him.
Varisheh Moradi was arrested by security forces in the outskirts of Sanandaj in August 2023. She was ultimately transferred to Evin Prison on December 26, 2023. In late November 2024, she was sentenced to death by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, on the charge of baghi (armed rebellion).