Dariyush Andalibian, a South Azerbaijani activist  was arrested in his workplace in  the city of Soyuqbulaq ( Mahabad) on October 18, 2014 and sent to Mahabad Prison to serve his conviction.

Dariyush Andalibian, Habib Manafi Azer, Javad Sudbar, Mokhtar Ibrahimi and Yusef Mokhtari were arrested on 12 December of last year for simply visiting the graveyard of Khanali Motiyi who had served as the director of Telegraph Agency of the Azerbaijan People’s Republic in 1945  and was  executed by Iranian Army in 1946 after the downfall of the Azerbaijan People’s Republic.
Dariyush Andalibian was sentenced to 9 months in Prison by Mahabad’s Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal. Other activists were sentenced to 3 to 6 months in prison . The Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Western Azerbaijan Province refused to grant their appeal, upheld the lower tribunal’s decision and instructed the police to enforce the convictions.

Southern Azerbaijanis commemorate the  12  December as the National Statehood Day since  the Azerbaijan People Republic  was established on 12 December (21 Azer) of 1945,  under the leadership of  the  Azerbaijan  Democratic Party and its charismatic leader Mr.  Jafar  Pishevari who also served as the first president of the Republic of Southern Azerbaijan between 1945-1946.  The National Statehood Day is mostly celebrated by Southern Azerbaijani communities living abroad since Iranian government suppresses such  attempts  inside Southern Azerbaijan.