Kurdish Political Prisoner, Ramin Hossein Panahi, Sewed His Lips Demanding Basic Rights

Ramin Hossein Panahi a Kurdish prisoner, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, has gone on hunger strike. He has sewed his lips, demanding his basic rights.

Hia brother, Amjad Hossein Panahi, said his inmates told our family that Ramin had been wounded during his transfer to solitary confinement and apparently he has been taken to a hospital. He suggested that he may have been “roughed up” by prison guards or other ordinary prisoners, or he may have resisted his transfer which could have led to the guards using excessive force.

Amjad added: “We think that he has been taken to one of Tehran’s hospitals, but we do not have any information about his fate and whether or not he has been hanged.”

Ramin Hossein Panahi was arrested in June last year and was sentenced to death in January 2018 by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj for his alleged membership in the Kurdish nationalist party, Komala. He has also been accused of attempt to use a weapon against agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Ramin Hossein Panahi, has insisted he did not participate in any armed action nor did he reach for a weapon.

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the sentence in April this year and his execution was scheduled for May 3 but was postponed after international outcry by the United Nations and Human Rights organizations campaigns. Ramin Hossein Panahi’s request for a case review was rejected by Iran’s Supreme Court, leaving him in the risk of imminent execution.

Ramin Hossein Panahi was transferred hundreds of miles to Rajai Shahr Prison of Karaj, west of Tehran for unknown reasons on August 14, raising fears he could soon be executed.