Abdolaziz Gol-Mohammadi, a Kurdish political prisoner serving a sentence of 10 years and one day in Orumiyeh Central Prison, has begun a hunger strike in protest at the rejection of his request for a suspension of his sentence.

On 30 November, Gol-Mohammadi, who is currently being held in the Political and Religious Prison Ward, submitted an official hunger strike notice to the prison authorities after his request was rejected by the Deputy Prosecutor of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province.

He had previously attempted suicide by taking medication on 23 April after prison officials rejected his request for temporary leave.

Gol-Mohammadi had previously begun a dry hunger strike on 14 October 2023 in protest at the rejection of his request for leave by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation.

Initially, the prisoner was on dry hunger strike for the first five days. After being transferred to the infirmary and receiving assurances from the prison authorities that his demands would be considered, he ended the dry hunger strike.

Instead, he was given IV for 40 days before ending his hunger strike when granted temporary leave.

Background

Gol-Mohammadi, a 53-year-old Kurdish civilian from Orumiyeh, was initially detained at Orumiyeh Central Prison for a non-political case. However, on 6 October 2019, he was transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at Al-Mahdi Barracks in the city, where he was interrogated for two months alongside four other Kurdish civilians on charges of membership in a Kurdish opposition party.

The others – Omid Saeidi, Kamran Ghassemi, Nayeb (Masoud) Hajizadeh, and Keyvan Rashozadeh – had been arrested by security forces in Orumiyeh on 8 October 2019, and Gol-Mohammadi had no prior connection to them.

After a year of legal limbo, in December 2020, Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh sentenced each of the five civilians to 10 years and one day in prison.

The court accused them of “acting against national security” through their alleged “membership” of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

On 26 January 2021, after the issuance of his sentence, Gol-Mohammadi was released on bail of 10 billion rials – nearly 14,000 USD – but was re-arrested seven months later, in August 2021, to serve the sentence.