13 November 2020 :
Kurdish Political Prisoner Zeinab Jalalian Transferred to Jail Far Away From Family
A Kurdish political prisoner serving a life sentence has been transferred from Kermanshah Prison to Yazd Prison, despite suffering complications from coronavirus and a decline in her overall health. It is the fourth time she has been transferred in the last six months.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Zeinab Jalalian, who is serving the longest prison term of any female political prisoner in Iran, told her family during a short phone call on November 10 that she was being transferred, and that she had been physically assaulted and kept in harsh conditions.
A source told the human rights group she had not received adequate medical treatment for Covid-19, which, compounded by pre-existing health issues, had led to a deterioration in her condition.
Jalalian contracted coronavirus and asthma while in Qarchak Prison. She also suffers from a degenerative eye condition.
Zeynab Jalalian, 38 years old from Maku, was arrested in summer 2008 in Kermanshah. After spending several months in solitary confinement and enduring severe physical and mental torture, she was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of “acting against national security” and “Moharebeh” through membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). Her death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 2011 by the Court of Appeal and Zeynab was later transferred to Khoy Prison in West Azerbaijan Province.
On April 29, 2020, she was transferred without notice from Maku Prison to Qarchak Prison. Two months later, suffering from Covid-19, she requested to return to Khoy Prison where she had been kept before, and went on hunger strike in protest. Eventually, she was transferred to Kerman prison.
Security agents then moved Zeinab Jalalian again on September 22, taking her from Kerman Prison to Kermanshah Prison, although her whereabouts were not made public for two days.
The prisoner’s family lives in West Azerbaijan, so the constant transfers mean it is often impossible for her family to visit her. Yazd Prison is approximately 1,300 from West Azerbaijan, the province where Jalalian’s family is based. Kermanshah is approximately 500 kilometers away, whereas Kerman is a distance of 1,600 kilometers away and Qarchak is over 800 kilometers from the province. Khoy, on the other hand, is a distance of 150 kilometers.
