Kurdistan Human Rights Network

The detained Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili was transferred to a security detention centre in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, on 21 October, after Branch 2 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Saqqez held a hearing for the explanation of the charges against him. During the hearing, he was questioned for attending the funeral of his friend’s mother, his family said. On 20 October, security forces...

Iranian security forces arrested Kurdish labour activist Osman Esmaeili in front of his house in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 20 October. They took Esmaeili to an undisclosed location. His family said more than ten security officers were present during his detention. Esmaeili is a well-known labour activist who has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by security forces for defending workers’ rights. In the latest case, he was arrested...

Kurdish labour activists Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Esmaeili have been released today from Saqqez Prison, 25 days after being arrested. In late May, Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Saqqez sentenced Salehi and Esmaeili to three and six months in prison, respectively on charges of “propaganda against the state” over holding International Workers’ Day celebrations. The sentences were then, according to Article 38 of...

Labour activists Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Esmaeili, who were arrested on 16 May, have been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Saqqez to three and six months in prison respectively, on charges of “propaganda against the state” over holding International Workers' Day celebrations. The prison sentences have then been commuted to fine payments, based on the Iranian Islamic Penal Code. The trial...

The Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Saqqez has referred the case of the prominent labour activists Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Esmaeili to the Islamic Revolutionary Court of the city, four days after the arrest of the activists. Salehi and Esmaeili were arrested in Saqqez on 16 May for their social media activities on International Workers’ Day and were accused of “propaganda against the state”. “Mahmoud...

Prominent labour activists Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Esmaeili, who were summoned last week to Branch 3 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Saqqez, have been arrested after appearing in court and have been sent to the city's prison. Reportedly, after they were informed that they were being accused of “propaganda against the state”, the investigator issued a bail of 40 million Iranian Tomans...