The hunger-striking Kurdish political prisoner Keyvan Rashozadeh was transferred on 13 September from solitary confinement in Orumiyeh Central Prison to the detention facility of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province.
Rashozadeh began his dry hunger strike on 5 September in response to being placed in solitary confinement as a result of his protest against the conditions in the political prisoners’ ward and the use of drugs by some prisoners.
Rashozadeh informed his family of his transfer in a brief telephone conversation on 13 September.
Rashozadeh’s transfer to the detention centre was prompted by a complaint from the prison authorities, accusing him of “insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic”.
It is worth noting that this transfer took place while the political prisoner was still on a dry hunger strike, and his physical condition was reportedly worrying.
In recent days, prison officials have pressured and threatened Rashozadeh in an attempt to persuade him to end his hunger strike.
In response, the political prisoner has firmly stated that he will continue his hunger strike until his request for conditional release is granted.
Having served more than half of his seven-year and six-month sentence, he has been denied the right to conditional release due to opposition from the Ministry of Intelligence and prison officials.
Background
On 8 October 2019, security forces arrested Rashozadeh along with four other civilians named Omid Saeidi, Kamran Ghassemi, Nayeb (Massoud) Hajipour and Abdolaziz Golmohammadi.
After a month of interrogation in the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Orumiyeh, these civilians were transferred to the juvenile section of Orumiyeh Central Prison.
In December 2020, after a year of uncertainty in prison, Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh sentenced them each to 10 years and one day in prison.
It charged the civilians with “acting against national security” through their membership of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
The sentence was later commuted to seven years and six months.
In December 2020, Rashozadeh, Ghassemi and Saeidi went on a week-long hunger strike to protest against the uncertainty of their situation, the pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence and the failure of the prison authorities to respect the principle of separation of crimes in the juvenile section of Orumiyeh Central Prison.
