Saqqez court sentences Behzad Rasouli to eight years in prison

Hengaw – Sunday, May 3, 2026

Behzad Rasouli, a 43-year-old Kurdish resident of Saqqez who had previously carried out a prolonged hunger strike in protest of legal limbo and security pressure, has been sentenced to prison by the Iranian judiciary.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Rasouli was recently sentenced by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Saqqez, presided over by Judge Javad Ghaffari, to eight years of discretionary imprisonment on charges of “membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.” He is currently serving his sentence in the Central Prison of Saqqez.

The sentence was issued despite the fact that Rasouli staged a 70-day hunger strike last autumn in protest against the continuation of his pretrial detention, pressure to obtain forced confessions and being denied visits with his young child.

Sources said his physical condition deteriorated severely during the hunger strike, and he experienced dramatic weight loss. He was transferred to Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez, where he also refused intravenous treatment.

Rasouli was arrested on Saturday, July 26, 2025, while traveling to Isfahan to visit his child.

He was held for weeks in security detention centers in Isfahan, where he was subjected to interrogations and psychological torture, before later being transferred to Saqqez Central Prison.