A former Kurdish political prisoner named Kamran Darvishi has gone on a hunger strike and sewn up his lips in Austria on 23 March
Darvishi, who left Iran 11 months ago to seek asylum in Austria, protests against the uncertainty about his asylum case and the local authorities’ decision to evacuate him from the building where he lives.
He had previously gone on a hunger strike by sewing his lips together in Orumiyeh Central Prison, in northwestern Iran, to protest against being held in the ward for prisoners convicted of drug-related offences.
Security forces arrested Darvishi in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province, on 2 May 2016.
He was interrogated and tortured for two months at the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Orumiyeh.
In November 2016, Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Sheikhlou, sentenced Darvishi to five years in prison.
The court charged him with “acting against national security” by collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The political prisoner was released from prison in December 2020 after four years and eight months imprisonment.
Later, he had to leave Iran and seek asylum in Austria due to pressures from security institutions.
