Osman Esmaeili is a well-known Kurdish labour activist who has been repeatedly summoned, arrested, and imprisoned by security agencies for his activities in defence of workers’ rights.

Esmaeili was arrested on 8 February 2023 by security forces in Saqqez and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province.

After 70 days of detention, he was provisionally released from Saqqez prison on bail of 10 billion Iranian rials – nearly 20,000 USD.

He was tried on 18 June 2023 in the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Saqqez, presided over by Judge Javad Mostafaei, and was notified of the decision on 11 September 2023.

According to the issued verdict, Esmaeili received 31 months and 15 days for “membership” of the Komala Kurdistan’s Organisation of the Communist Party of Iran on the charge of “actions against national security” and a sentence of seven months and 15 days of imprisonment for “propaganda against the state”, related to his presence in the burial ceremony for Jina Amini.

Esmaeili had previously shared part of his verdict on his Facebook page, highlighting that the court had revised the sentence to 16-months of imprisonment.

The activist said: “The court took into account the mitigating factors stipulated in Article 38 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code, including Mr Esmaeili’s age and marital status. Referring to the recent amendments and Article 6 of the 2019 Law on the Reduction of Imprisonment in conjunction with Article 37 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code, the court has revised the sentence to a 16-month prison term, factoring in the previous days of detention.”

This sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in late October 2023.

On 13 November 2023, the activist was imprisoned to serve a 16-month sentence in Saqqez Prison. Suffering from various illnesses, he was deprived of medical services for months.

– On 2 January 2024, Branch Two of the Enforcement of Judgements Office in Saqqez ordered Esmaeili’s temporary transfer from Saqqez Prison to Evin Prison in Tehran for medical follow-up. However, Evin prison officials refused to admit him, citing shortcomings in his case file, and he was returned to Saqqez prison.

– On 12 February 2024, he was transferred from Saqqez Prison to Sanandaj Central Prison to begin his treatment.

– On 9 April, Sanandaj Central Prison sent a letter to Branch Four of the Enforcement of Judgements Office in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, stating that Esmaeili was suffering from various health problems and requested his release due to his physical inability to continue his detention, but this request was rejected by the Ministry of Intelligence.

– In May 2024, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) has expressed concern over Esmaeili’s physical condition and called on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to urge the Iranian government to provide him with immediate medical care and release him from prison.

– On 2 May 2024, he was transferred from Sanandaj Central Prison back to Saqqez prison.

– On 25 May 2024, he was sent on medical leave from Saqqez Prison.

– On 13 August 2024, while on medical leave, he was summoned to the Enforcement of Judgments Office of the Saqqez Court, and after being arrested, was taken to Saqqez Prison.

1. Komala Kurdistan’s Organisation of the Communist Party of Iran: The Komala of Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan, known as Komala, a Marxist-Leninist organisation with Maoist inclinations, after nearly a decade of clandestine activities, publicly declared its establishment on 15 February 1979, simultaneously with the victory of the 1979 revolution.

In 1984, Komala and several other leftist Iranian groups founded the Communist Party of Iran (CPI), and Komala was renamed to Komala Kurdistan’s Organisation of the Communist Party of Iran.

The purpose of forming this party was described as the struggle to “establish a workers’ government and create a socialist society” in Iran.

Since 1991, the CPI has experienced several splits. Currently, apart from Komala Kurdistan’s Organisation of the Communist Party of Iran, two other parties that split from the organisation also use Komala in their official names. The central headquarters of the Komala Kurdistan’s Organisation of the Communist Party of Iran is in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.