Kurdistan Human Rights Network

The Supreme Court has rejected the second appeal for a retrial of Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner with Turkish citizenship, and upheld his death sentence. With this latest rejection, Ozdemir’s execution is now even more imminent. Ozdemir was sentenced to death in May 2024 by Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of...

Kurdish political prisoner Verisheh Moradi (Wirishe Moradi), who is on death row, is being denied access to vital medical care despite suffering from serious health conditions, including a herniated cervical disc and spinal canal stenosis, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. In March 2024, Moradi was examined by a neurologist and both the specialist and the medical team at Evin Prison recommended immediate...

Motalleb Ahmadian, a 42-year-old Kurdish political prisoner serving the 15th year of a 30-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, went on a hunger strike on 5 May, protesting the Tehran Prosecutor’s refusal to grant him medical leave or suspend his sentence despite his deteriorating health. Ahmadian suffers from a number of serious illnesses, including duodenal cancer, diaphragmatic hernia, spinal canal stenosis, and a urinary tract...

The Supreme Court has rejected the request for a retrial of Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner with Turkish citizenship, upholding his death sentence. Ozdemir was sentenced to death in May by Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). In September 2024, Branch Nine of the Supreme Court...

Zeynab Jalalian, Iran's longest-serving and only female political prisoner serving a life sentence, marks 17 years behind bars. Born in 1982 in the village of Dim Qeshlaq in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province, Jalalian has been imprisoned since 26 February 2008. Jalalian is the only woman in the country serving a life sentence for political reasons. Over the years, she has been denied both the right to...

Kurdish political prisoner Kianoush Cheraghi has sewn his lips shut in Ilam Central Prison on the fifth day of a dry hunger strike, protesting the revocation of his electronic ankle tag and the physical assault he suffered during his transfer to prison, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Cheraghi, from Dehloran, Ilam Province, was released on electronic monitoring while serving a two-year sentence...

At present, 11 Kurdish political activists and civilians are imprisoned under death sentences, with at least eight others facing the risk of receiving similar sentences. Some of these individuals were arrested during the anti-government Women, Life, Freedom uprising. They have been subjected to unjust conditions, including denial of access to chosen lawyers, severe physical and psychological torture, and unfair trials, resulting in the issuance of...

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...

Motalleb Ahmadian, a Kurdish political prisoner serving his 15th year in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is facing critical health issues due to severe medical conditions, including diaphragm hernia, spinal canal stenosis, urinary tract infection, and duodenal cancer. Despite recommendations from forensic medical authorities for the suspension of his sentence, Tehran’s Prosecutor, Ali Salehi, has repeatedly denied requests for medical furlough or transfer to external treatment facilities. The...