Kurdish political prisoner's family claims ignorance of his place of detention and condition

Ali Jalalian, Zeinab Jalalian's father, said in an interview with Radio Farda on Wednesday that he had no information about the Kurdish political prisoner's condition after he called his family from Kermanshah prison on Monday of this week.

In recent days, news has been circulating that Ms. Jalalian has been transferred from Kermanshah Prison to an unknown location.

Ali Jalalian, her father, said in response to a Radio Farda reporter's question that he spoke to his daughter on the phone on Monday and has not heard from her since.

Zeinab Jalalian was born in 1982 and has been in prison since December 2007, serving a life sentence, the heaviest sentence among female political prisoners.

He was sentenced to death in 2009 on charges of war crimes and membership in the PJAK group, which, according to his lawyer, was commuted to life imprisonment with a degree of reduction and a pardon from the leadership.

Ms. Jalalian's family lives in West Azerbaijan Province, and she was imprisoned in Khoy prison, near her family's residence, but has been transferred to other prisons several times over the past few months, and judicial authorities and the prison organization have not yet given any official explanation of her condition or the reason for her repeated transfers.

In May of this year, this Kurdish political prisoner was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin, and in July, he was transferred to Kerman Prison and then Kermanshah Prison, while he was on a hunger strike in protest of these transfers and demanding to be returned to Khoy Prison, near where his family lives.

According to Note 1 of Article 234 of the Prisons Organization's regulations, the organization "must make arrangements for convicts to serve their sentences at the closest prison to their family's residence upon personal request."

Ali Jalalian told Radio Farda on Wednesday that they still oppose his daughter's leave and did not provide any explanation for the reason for this opposition.

Zeinab Jalalian has been in prison for more than 13 years without leave. This is despite the fact that, according to the Prisons Organization's regulations, those sentenced to more than 15 years and life imprisonment can take leave after serving at least three years of their sentence.

Amirsalar Davoudi, the lawyer for Ms. Jalalian, who has been in prison since November 2018 with a 15-year prison sentence and 111 lashes, told the International Campaign for Human Rights before her arrest that her client's release had been made conditional on a television interview, and that individuals from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards were still demanding that her client sit in front of the camera and give an interview against herself.

According to Mr. Davoudi, the problem is that "their view of Zainab is a security view and they think that they should probably take the necessary privileges from Zainab. They think that they should disarm Zainab sufficiently, in their opinion, and then provide the means for her release."

Ms. Jalalian's father had said about this: "They said she was a political person, so we wouldn't give her leave. Then they themselves said several times to prepare documents for leave. We prepared them, but they lied and didn't give her leave. We go to the court to investigate, and they say, 'Go to hell, why did you come?' They have kept the girl in prison for thirteen years, since she was twenty, and they haven't given her a single day's leave. Well, she's going to get worse. She's in a very bad state."

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network recently reported, citing an informed source, that Ms. Jalalian's lungs suffered serious damage after contracting COVID-19 in Qarchak Prison and receiving no medical attention. During this time, she has been coughing constantly and has had severe breathing problems.

During this time, his vision has also once again become problematic due to inflammation in his right eye.

According to the same informed source, "Since Zeinab Jalalian was transferred to Kerman and Kermanshah prisons, due to the handcuffs and shackles she was handcuffed and dragged to the ground by security officers, her wrists and legs have been severely injured, and signs of wounds and bruises are still visible on her hands and legs."

Source: Radio Farda