Kurdish political prisoner Jamshid Esmaeili has begun a hunger strike in Urmia Central Prison after the supervising judge refused to approve his request for leave.
Esmaeili, who is from Urmia, was sent to Urmia Central Prison about eight months ago to begin serving a three-year sentence.
According to an informed source in Urmia who spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), Esmaeili was arrested in 2024 and was temporarily released on bail after several months.
The source added that the Islamic Revolutionary Court in the city sentenced Esmaeili to three years in prison on charges of “spying” for one of the Kurdish parties less than a year ago.
The source said that Esmaeili has now served around one-third of his sentence, but has been denied both leave and conditional release from prison.
Since the outbreak of the war, his family has repeatedly approached security and judicial authorities in the city, requesting either his release or permission for him to take prison leave. Although the Ministry of Intelligence has approved the request, the supervising judge has so far refused to grant it.
Esmaeili began his hunger strike on 12 March in the ward for political prisoners and religious prisoners at Urmia Central Prison.
KHRN’s findings show that since the start of the war, hundreds of prisoners convicted of non-political offences in prisons across various cities in Kurdistan have been granted leave on bail or released conditionally. However, courts and security bodies have so far rejected similar requests by political prisoners.
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