After a two-year-and-a-half silence, the Iranian judicial authorities and central prison of Kermanshah have disclosed information on the fate of a Kurdish political prisoner that the Iranian security forces had arrested 30 months ago.
A reliable source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that “on 1 June 2014, Saywan Rahimi, a former political prisoner who previously served a prison sentence, was ambushed by [Iran’s] IRGC forces near the Iran-Iraq border and he was seriously wounded in the clashes with the Iranian forces and arrested.”
Kurdish activists had then announced Rahimi ‘s death on social media and Kurdish news websites.
However, after 19 months, it has been revealed that Rahimi is alive and he is jailed in Dizel Abad prison in the city of Kermanshah.
A former fellow inmate of Rahimi , who was jailed with him for a few days in ward 10 of Dizel Abad prison before being transferred to Sanandaj prison where Rahimi was also previously held, had revealed to former Rahimi cellmates that Rahimi was badly injured during his arrest and he is now detained in dire conditions closely monitored by guards, not allowed to communicate with his family and lawyer in ward 10 of Dizel Abad prison.
Ward 10 is notorious to be a jail for some of the most dangerous prisoners, including criminals and drug traffickers. It’s also the place where death row prisoners spend their last night before execution.
In January 2016, Rahimi’s parents went to the bureau of the Iranian intelligence in Kermanshah to get information on the fate if their son.
His parents were shown a short video of their son being interrogated after they had insisted to see any traces of their son.
They were told that Rahimi had been charged with “Moharebeh” (Enmity against God) because of his membership in Free Life Party of Kurdistan, better known by its Kurdish acronym PJAK, which is outlawed in Iran.
The intelligence authorities also told the parents that their son was currently waiting for a decision by the courts and that during this waiting only the prosecutor can allow him (or not) to communicate with his family.
During the past year, Rahimi’s parents and their lawyer tried repeatedly to visit him in Kermanshah prison but each time the prison staff pretended to know nothing of his presence at the prison.
KHRN is able to confrim that Rahimi is jailed in Dizel Abad prison on charges of “Moharebeh” (Enmity against God) , although the judicial authorities have not yet confirmed it.
Rahimi, 26, comes from Negel village located on the outskirts of the city of Sanandaj.
The Iranian security forces had first arrested him on 7 April 2009 on allegation of “acting against national security'”.
He spent one month in isolation in Sanandaj’s intelligence bureau before being transferred to the central prison in Sanandaj.
The Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj under the presidency of judge Babaei sentenced him to 6 years behind bars.
The Appeal Court later reduced the jail sentence to two years.
Rahimi served his 2 years sentence to the end until his release.
