Family of Kurdish Political Prisoner Unaware of Her Whereabouts and Condition

Ali Jalalian, father of Zinab Jalalian, said in an interview with Radio Farda on Wednesday that he has no information about the condition of this Kurdish political prisoner after she contacted her family from Kermanshah Prison on Monday of the current week.

In recent days, news reports had circulated about the transfer of Ms. Jalalian from Kermanshah Prison to an unknown location.

Ali Jalalian, her father, in response to a question from Radio Farda’s correspondent, said that he spoke with his daughter by phone on Monday and has had no information about her since then.

Zinab Jalalian was born in 1361 and has been serving a life sentence since Azar 1386, the heaviest sentence among female political prisoners, in prison.

She was sentenced to death in 1388 on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) with membership in the PJAK group, which, according to her lawyer, was reduced by one degree and through the Supreme Leader’s pardon, was commuted to life imprisonment.

Ms. Jalalian’s family lives in West Azerbaijan Province and she was imprisoned in Khoy Prison near her family’s residence, but over the past several months she has been transferred to several other prisons multiple times, and judicial authorities and the prison organization have provided no official explanation of her condition and the reason for the repeated transfers.

In Ordibehesht of the current year, this Kurdish political prisoner was transferred to Qarchak-Varamin Prison and in Tir was transferred to Kerman Prison and then Kermanshah Prison while protesting these transfers by going on a hunger strike, and demanding to return to Khoy Prison, near her family’s residence.

According to Note One of Article 234 of the Prison Organization Regulations, this organization “must take measures so that the condemned, upon personal request, serve their sentence in the nearest prison to their family’s place of residence.”

Ali Jalalian said to Radio Farda on Wednesday that they continue to oppose his daughter’s furlough and provide no explanation for this opposition.

Zinab Jalalian has spent more than 13 years in prison without furlough. This is while, based on the Prison Organization Regulations, the condemned to sentences exceeding 15 years and life imprisonment can receive furlough after serving at least three years of their sentence.

AmirSalar Davudi, Ms. Jalalian’s lawyer, who has been serving a sentence of 15 years imprisonment executable and 111 lashes since Aban 1397, had told an international human rights campaign before his arrest that his client’s furlough has been made conditional on a television interview and individuals from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps continue to demand that his client sit before the camera and give an interview against himself.

According to Mr. Davudi, the problem is that “their view of Zinab is a security view and they think that probably they must obtain the necessary concessions from Zinab. They think they must disarm Zinab sufficiently in their opinion and then provide the means for her release.”

Ms. Jalalian’s father had said about this: “They said the person is political, that is why we won’t give furlough, then they themselves said several times to prepare a document for furlough. We prepared it but they lied and didn’t give furlough. We go to court to follow up, they say go to hell, why did you come. They have kept our daughter in prison from age twenty until now, thirteen years, and have not given her even one day of furlough well, her condition is getting worse. Her condition is very bad.”

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network recently reported, citing an informed source, that Ms. Jalalian’s lungs have suffered serious damage after contracting COVID in Qarchak Prison and receiving no medical care, and during this period she continuously coughs and suffers from severe respiratory problems.

During this time, due to inflammation of her right eye, her vision condition has also faced problems again.

According to this informed source, “since Zinab Jalalian’s transfer to Kerman and Kermanshah prisons, due to handcuffs and shackles being placed on this prisoner and her being dragged on the ground by security personnel, her wrists and ankles have been severely injured and traces of wounds and bruises are still visible on her hands and feet.”

Source: Radio Farda