Saghez Prison; More than 2 Months of Dry Hunger Strike by Behzad Rasouli, a Kurdish Political Prisoner Severe Weight Loss and Critical Physical and Psychological Condition

June 6, 2026; Behzad Rasouli, a 43-year-old Kurdish political prisoner from Saghez who is sentenced to 8 years of discretionary imprisonment, has been on a dry hunger strike for more than 2 months in protest of the issuance of his prison sentence. Reports indicate his severe weight loss in the Central Prison of Saghez and the deterioration of his physical and psychological condition, such that his life is in serious danger.

An informed source, while confirming this news, told Kurdpa: Behzad Rasouli, who is incarcerated in the Central Prison of Saghez, has been on a dry hunger strike for more than 2 months in protest of his 8-year imprisonment sentence following its issuance. According to this source, he has faced severe weight loss as a result of this strike, with his weight dropping from over 80 kilograms to approximately 50 kilograms. Furthermore, due to his protest against the prison sentence remaining unanswered, the lack of consideration of his requests, and the inhumane conditions during his strike, he is in a critical physical and psychological state, and the continuation of the hunger strike could put his life in severe danger.

Behzad Rasouli, who has been in detention for nearly a year, was sentenced in early spring 2026, coinciding with the internet shutdown, by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Saghez, presided over by Judge “Javad Ghaffari,” to 8 years of discretionary imprisonment on the charge of “membership in one of the Kurdish parties,” and this sentence was communicated to him inside the Central Prison of Saghez.

This Kurdish political prisoner was arrested by security forces on July 26, 2025, when he had traveled from outside Iran to Isfahan to visit his young child. Following more than 2 months of detention and interrogation in a solitary confinement cell at one of the security detention centers in Isfahan, he was transferred to the Central Prison of Saghez.

This is the second time that Behzad Rasouli has embarked on a long-term hunger strike. Following his transfer to the Central Prison of Saghez in autumn 2025, he went on a dry hunger strike for 70 days in protest of the continuation of his arbitrary detention, deprivation of temporary release, security pressures to extract a forced confession, and deprivation of visitation with his young child. During that period, he also faced severe weight loss and a critical physical and psychological condition, such that he was transferred once to “Khomeini” Hospital in Saghez outside the prison for medical treatment.