Describing Chaleshi as a “political prisoner,” Hengaw Human Rights Organization on Wednesday stated that his health “had deteriorated in April, requiring urgent treatment, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization denied him medical leave.”
Chaleshi was arrested in December 2020 and taken to a detention facility under the IRGC’s Intelligence Organisation. After initial interrogation, he was transferred to Urmia Central Prison in January 2021. Nine months later, in October, he was sentenced to “seven years of discretionary imprisonment” by the Urmia Revolutionary Court on charges of “acting against national security through membership in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran [KDPI].”
The KDPI is a Kurdish opposition party that has fought the Iranian government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It has been based in the Kurdistan Region since the 1980s, and Iran frequently bombs areas where it is based.
The Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported in December 2023 on Chaleshi’s worsening health in the political ward of Urmia Central Prison.
“The new ward is located in an isolated area outside the main prison building, prisoners are not allowed to go to the prison infirmary,” KHRN reported, adding that “only the doctor visits the ward several times a month to examine sick prisoners.” There have been instances when doctors went several months without visiting ill prisoners.
Chaleshi passed away on Wednesday while serving his fifth year of imprisonment.
