Kurdish Political Prisoners Kamran Ghasemi and Keyvan Rashouzadeh Released on Conditional Terms

Hengaw, Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Keyvan Rashouzadeh and Kamran Ghasemi, two Kurdish political prisoners from Urmia, were finally released on conditional terms after serving 5 years of their sentences without receiving any leave.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Saturday, October 5, 2024, Kamran Ghasemi and Keyvan Rashouzadeh, two political prisoners from the same case in Urmia, were released from the central prison of this city after serving 5 years in prison.

It is worth noting that Kamran Ghasemi had gone on a hunger strike from Wednesday, September 25, 2024, in protest against his prison conditions, pressure from the Intelligence Office, and prison officials' rejection of his requests to leave.

Kamran Ghasemi's hunger strike, due to previous similar actions and his severely weakened physical condition, had an immediate impact on his health, and he was transferred to the hospital immediately after his release and received treatment.

Earlier, Keyvan Rashouzadeh, another political prisoner, went on a hunger strike on Saturday, April 27, 2024, and as a result, he was severely beaten by prison guards and was transferred to solitary confinement for some time.

The beating of Keyvan Rashouzadeh by prison guards was so severe that his mother released a video message expressing serious concern and calling for an investigation into his condition.

A little earlier, Kamran Ghasemi had also gone on a two-week hunger strike on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in protest of obstructions in the process of obtaining conditional release and leave.

Keyvan Rashouzadeh had previously sewed his lips together on Monday, June 13, 2022, as a sign of protest against the prison authorities' refusal to grant him furlough.

Keyvan Rashouzadeh and Kamran Ghasemi, along with three other individuals—Omid Saeedi, Abdolaziz Mohammadpour, and Nayeb Hajipour—were arrested by Intelligence Office forces in Urmia on October 8, 2019, and transferred to the detention center of this security agency.

The trial session for these five political defendants was held in December 2020 at the second branch of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Sheikhloo, and they were each sentenced to 10 years and 1 day in prison on charges of acting against national security through "membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan."

These sentences were eventually reduced to 7 years and 6 months in prison after the application of Article 442 of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Criminal Procedure Code.