Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Osman Esmaeili, a 64-year-old Kurdish labour activist, is being denied access to specialised medical care and leave due to opposition from the Ministry of Intelligence, raising concerns over his deteriorating health. Esmaeili, who has been imprisoned since November 2023, suffers from a number of health problems, including a hernia and spinal stenosis. A doctor accredited by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organisation in Kurdistan Province has warned...

Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili, who has been serving a 16-month sentence in Saqqez Prison in Kurdistan Province since November 2023, is suffering from an inguinal hernia and has been denied urgent surgery, raising serious concerns about his health. Despite being transferred to an outside medical facility in January due to his deteriorating condition, the authorities have yet to provide the urgently needed surgery, the...

Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili was imprisoned today to serve a 16-month sentence in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province. In recent days, Esmaeili was summoned by Branch Two of the Enforcement of Judgements Office of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Saqqez to serve his sentence. Esmaeili was tried on 18 June in the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Saqqez, presided over by Judge...

Iran's Supreme Court has upheld a 16-month prison sentence against Osman Esmaeili, a labour activist and former political prisoner, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Today, Esmaeili received a notice from Branch Two of the Enforcement of Judgements Office of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, ordering him to appear in court within ten days to begin serving his...

Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, has sentenced Kurdish labour activist and former political prisoner Osman Esmaeili to a total of 39 months in prison on charges of "actions against national security" and "propaganda against the state". The verdict states that Esmaeili has received a sentence of 31 months and 15 days for "membership" of the Komala Kurdistan's Organisation of...

Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili was released on a bail of 10 billion rials – nearly 20,000 USD – from Saqqez Prison on 17 April after 70 days of detention. Security forces arrested Esmaeili in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 8 February and took him to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was transferred to Saqqez Prison on 15 March after initial...

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...

Iranian security forces arrested Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili on the Shohada Street of Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 8 February and took him to an undisclosed location. The activist's family has received no information on his situation despite follow-ups at the court and security agencies in Saqqez. Esmaeili is a well-known labour activist who has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by security forces for defending workers’...

Iran has released today prominent Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili from Sanandaj Central Prison on a bail of 50 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 2,000 USD. Security forces arrested Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili in front of his house in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 20 October. They then took him to a security detention centre in Sanandaj. On 25 October, Esmaeili was transferred from this security detention...