Cansu Özdemir, a member of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) from the Left Party (Die Linke), has assumed parliamentary sponsorship for Rojhilat Kurdish political prisoner Zeynab Jalalian, who is imprisoned in Iran.
Zeynab Jalalian has been in prison in Iran since 2008. The death sentence handed down against her was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011. International human rights organizations report that Jalalian has been subjected to ill-treatment in prison for years and has not been provided with adequate medical care.
Jalalian’s case is widely regarded as a symbolic example of the pressure on political opposition in Iran, particularly targeting Kurdish activists.
The sponsorship was undertaken within the framework of the German Federal Parliament’s (Bundestag) program “Parliamentarians Protect Parliamentarians” (Parlamentarier schützen Parlamentarier). Under this program, members of parliament take initiatives on behalf of human rights defenders and political prisoners under threat worldwide.
Commenting on the matter, Cansu Özdemir said she would work to ensure that Zeynab Jalalian’s case remains visible internationally, stated: “Political prisoners must not be forgotten.”
Leave a Reply