The Revolutionary Court of Kurdistan in Iran sentenced writer and translator Chanour ‎Fathi to five years in prison. Fathi was also banned by the court from engaging in any ‎journalistic activity, placing telephone calls or using the Internet. ‎

Chanour Fathi was accused by the Saghez city’s Revolutionary Court of “acting against ‎national security” and “cooperating with a Kurdish-Iranian party” based in Northern Iraq. ‎The court also accused her of instigating instability inside the country and engaging in ‎‎“cultural activities” on behalf of an anti-regime Kurdish party. ‎

Fathi’s sentence was issued despite the fact that none of the accusations against her were ‎proven in the court. Fathi, who is one of the most prominent and professional Kurdish ‎translators, attended the annual literary festival of “Ge Lavizh” in Iraq’s Kurdistan. She ‎had obtained official permits from the Iranian government to attend the festival and ‎received the second prize for her article submission.‎

Like many of her colleagues, however, Fathi was arrested upon her return to Iran and ‎accused of cooperating with armed Kurdish groups and engaging in cultural activities for ‎a Kurdish group based in the Iraqi Kurdistan. ‎

Moreover, Fathi’s sentence carries a threat that her prison sentence would increase if she ‎chose to publicize her conviction or engage in journalistic or civil activities. Chanour is ‎also banned from making any telephone calls or using the Internet. No further details ‎have yet been released of her trial or conviction. ‎

In addition to Chanour Fathi and Roonak Safarzadeh, a women’s rights activist who was ‎arrested last month, 21-year old student Hanna Abdi was also arrested and transferred to ‎an undisclosed location. ‎

Fathi’s conviction follows a recent trend of arrests and convictions for women’s rights ‎activists and members of the One Million Signatures campaign. ‎