Fifteenth Year of Imprisonment: Report on the Latest Situation of Habibollah Latifi in Sanandaj Prison

According to a report by Hrana News Agency, the news organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran collective, today Thursday, June 9, 2022, Habibollah Latifi, a political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, is spending the fifteenth year of his imprisonment without any prospect of freedom and deprived of visitation rights in Sanandaj Prison.

In recent years, despite Mr. Latifi’s need for medical attention, the refusal of security institutions to grant him medical leave had exacerbated his illness. This political prisoner returned to Sanandaj Prison last week after his leave period ended.

He was also sent on medical leave with a bail deposit on December 15, 2021, during his fourteenth year of enduring imprisonment.

Habibollah Latifi, a final-year student of Industrial Engineering at Ilam University, was arrested on November 1, 2007, and after enduring more than three months of solitary confinement, mistreatment, and beatings, was sentenced to death by the first branch of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Hassan Babaei on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) and spreading corruption on earth. Initially, this verdict was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. However, following further objections by his lawyers, it was referred to the Supreme Court for review and was also upheld there.

Finally, in 2015, during his eighth year of imprisonment without leave, it was announced that following public pressure and a circular known as the “Leadership Amnesty,” his death sentence had been stayed. After two years of limbo, in February 2017, the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court issued its final ruling, sentencing Habibollah Latifi to life imprisonment.