Iran has sent Kurdish political prisoner Habibollah Latifi on temporary leave for medical purposes.
Latifi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, has served 14 years in prison.
Due to his illness, his lawyer and family have repeatedly demanded in recent years that he be granted temporary medical leave, each time facing opposition from security agencies and the judiciary.
However, with the deterioration of his health and repeated follow-ups by his lawyer and family, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, finally agreed to send Latifi on leave.
In May 2020, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) published a report on the health condition of the political prisoner in Sanandaj prison.
The report said: “Following numerous medical examinations and tests, the official doctor of Sanandaj prison has officially announced that Habibollah Latifi suffers from ‘gastrointestinal irritable bowel syndrome as well as a psychiatric disorder known as depression’ and needs care in a calm and stress-free environment due to the ‘incurable nature of these diseases and to prevent the exacerbation of the diseases’.”
Latifi, who was a political activist and industrial engineering student, was arrested in Sanandaj in November 2007 and sentenced to death for allegedly “acting against national security.”
In the past years, the date of his execution was set several times, but it was stopped due to the reaction of his family and lawyer, as well as the protests of the people of Sanandaj.
On 26 December 2019, the people of Sanandaj gathered in front of the prison, which prevented the execution of Latifi’s sentence.
Eventually, after about ten years and with the efforts of his family and lawyer, the political prisoner’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
