Statement from Kurdish political prisoner Kamal Sharifi, who is being held in the worst mental and physical condition for 13 years without a day off on charges of “ War against God “ ( Moharebeh) .

Hengaw : Kamal Sharifi, a Kurdish political prisoner currently serving the 13th year of his 30-year sentence in Minab Central Prison, is still denied the right to leave.

Kamal Sharifi, a journalist and political prisoner from Saqqiz district of Kurdistan province , is serving his 13th year in prison without a single day off, during which time he suffered two strokes and a heart attack and is in poor mental condition.

This political prisoner's memorandum has been received by Hengaw Human Rights Organization in recent days and is being  published for the first time with the full text of which follows;

In the name of love and freedom

Are you still here?  This is a question that has been asked from me more than a hundred times by those who have been released from prison and have been re-imprisoned.

There are those who have been released from prison more than four or five times during this period of almost 2 years and have been imprisoned again for committing another crime.  There are those who have been imprisoned on charges of robbery,extortion, clashes, rapes and kidnappings, trading drugs , and after their release were charged again and back to prison and when they see me, they ask, "Are you still here?"  Have you not taken leave yet?

There are those who have not received the ransom and consent of the previous plaintiffs, but are seeking the consent and payment of ransom and interaction with the new plaintiff, but I am still here.  I have been in this prison for almost 13 years with a sentence of 30 years with deprivation of leave and deprivation of prison benefits.  Without the right to interact, correspond and associate with others.  I have been here for 13 years on the charge of war, on the charge of “ war against God and His Messenger”

However, the person who had the largest drug production lab in Hormozgan, with a 40-year sentence, was released after only two years  and returned to his previous job.  The convict, who was arrested with 4 tons and 365 kilograms of opium, was pardoned  and now lives with his family after three years in prison.  Hundreds of examples of this Islamic rapprochement are included in the case of the biggest traffickers and producers of narcotics , but it is interesting that none of them were Baloch.  While almost all executions were  Baluchis from Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan and Kerman.  Most prisoners charged with trading narcotics  here are also Baluch, and more interestingly, during this time I did not see any personnel, cadres, officers, guards or even simple soldiers who are Baluch.

During these 13  I have written  to the prosecutor, the head of justice and judicial officials of Hormozgan and Kurdistan provinces more than 20 times for  request to leave, but after many passes it has been ineffective and unanswered.

After suffering a stroke and its effects are still visible on my face, this time I had a heart attack on  March 3 , after which I returned to the same ward and the same room after the angioplasty operation.  I have been dealing with gastrointestinal illness and poor quality food in prison and living with addicts and coping with the smell of opium and cannabis smoke for 13 years.

After 13 years of imprisonment, exile,, stroke and heart attack, living with people with normal crimes, stress and coping with some other problems have become very exhausting and difficult.  Coping with “ war against God and his Massenger” a  term  enough to give a prisoner  a life time imprisonment or execution.

The inclusion of the term  "war against. God " in the criminal case  means the deprivation of leave and the privileges given to the prisoner by the prison authorities .  If the prisoner is a Kurd or a Baluch, it is the worse for them .  Every pardon and occasion that is announced Some prisoners are deprived of amnesty and pardon.

In any case, the prisoners  charged with “ War against God “ are the ones excluded from  any kind of pardon, forgiveness, occasion,and  etc.

Lack of definition of crime and political charges is one of the biggest problems of those who are imprisoned for this charge.  Separating prisoners into security and politics is a tactic used by the judiciary and a judge who can secure a political charge according to their own personal views  and that of security institutions, and according to the Qur'an, stigmatize prisoners with “ war against god “ .

Accusing security prisoners of “ war  against God “  means denouncing all Kurdish, Baluch and Arab activists  as misguided means misleading the desire for freedom in Iran.  This means that the judge can easily turn  activists’ personal belongings such pens , computer case and mobile phone into Kalashnikovs, bombs and grenades.  This means turning the demand for freedom into overthrow and riot.  I have been locked in prison for 13 years  without the slightest change in my case, with a huge amount of physical, mental and personal problems in the hope of being released and returning home.

Kamal Sharifi

April 21 , 2021