Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili is being held in custody by the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, without the right to legal counsel and family visits, Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.

Security forces arrested Esmaeili in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 8 February.

After spending the first week of his detention in the detention centre of the intelligence ministry in Saqqez, the labour activist was transferred to Sanandaj.

During this period, the activist made two short phone calls with his family, informing them that a one-month detention order had been issued for him.

Esmaeili is a well-known labour activist who has been repeatedly detained and imprisoned by security forces for supporting workers’ rights.