Saqqez Prison; The Life of Behzad Rasouli, a Kurdish Political Prisoner, is in Imminent Danger After More Than 3 Months on a Dry Hunger Strike
July 19, 2026 – Behzad Rasouli, a 43-year-old Kurdish political prisoner from Saqqez who is sentenced to 8 years of discretionary imprisonment (Habs-e Ta'ziri), has been on a dry hunger strike for more than three months to protest his prison sentence. Reports indicate that he has suffered severe weight loss in Saqqez Central Prison, and his physical and psychological condition has deteriorated to the point where his life is in imminent danger.
A well-informed source confirmed the news to Kurdpa, stating: "Behzad Rasouli, who is held in Saqqez Central Prison and has been on a dry hunger strike for over three months, has experienced a severe deterioration in his physical condition since yesterday, July 17, 2026. His blood sugar has dropped below 80, his blood pressure has fallen sharply to under 5, and his weight has plummeted to less than 49 kilograms. Yesterday, he lost consciousness while bathing and lay on the floor for more than an hour, yet no one checked on his condition. This comes despite the fact that prison cameras usually dispatch protection forces to the wards at the slightest hint of suspicious activity. Notwithstanding these conditions, he insists on continuing his hunger strike, stating, 'They will have to carry my corpse out of this prison.'"
In late April or early May 2026, following the issuance of his 8-year prison sentence, Behzad Rasouli launched a dry hunger strike in protest. Kurdpa had previously reported that after more than two months of his hunger strike, his weight had dropped from 80 kilograms to approximately 50 kilograms. Due to the lack of response to his appeal against the sentence, the neglect of his demands, and the inhumane conditions during his strike, he has been in a critical physical and mental state, and continuing this strike could severely endanger his life.
Behzad Rasouli, who has been in detention for nearly a year, was sentenced in early spring 2026—coinciding with an internet shutdown—by Branch 1 of the Saqqez Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Javad Ghaffari. He was handed an 8-year discretionary prison sentence on the charge of "membership in one of the Kurdish parties," a verdict that was officially served to him inside Saqqez Central Prison.
The Kurdish political prisoner was arrested by security forces on July 26, 2025, when he traveled from abroad to Isfahan to visit his young child. Following more than two months of detention and interrogation in solitary confinement at a security detention center in Isfahan, he was transferred to Saqqez Central Prison.
This marks the second time Behzad Rasouli has embarked on a prolonged hunger strike. Following his transfer to Saqqez Central Prison in the autumn of 2025, he went on a 70-day dry hunger strike to protest his continuous arbitrary detention, the denial of temporary release, security pressures to extract forced confessions, and being barred from visiting his young child. During that period, he also suffered severe weight loss and critical physical and mental decline, leading to his temporary transfer to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez outside the prison for medical treatment.
