Kurdish political prisoner Ali (Diyar) Bakhshaei, a Kurdish political prisoner from Dargaz in Razavi Khorasan Province, has been denied furlough while serving a five-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Bakhshaei, a cultural activist and labourer, was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran on 24 January 2019.
After his arrest, he was taken to Ward 2A of the IRGC’s detention centre in Evin Prison, where he was tortured for 36 days in order to extract forced confessions.
The activist was later temporarily released on bail from Evin Prison.
On 18 June 2019, Bakhshaei was brought before Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran – presided over by Judge Moghiseh – which sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against national security”.
His appeal was rejected by Branch 36 of the Tehran Province Appeals Court, which upheld the original sentence on 10 July 2019.
Bakhshaei was sent to Evin Prison on 1 February 2023 to serve his sentence and has not been granted the right to leave since the beginning of his sentence.
