It is reported that on 5 August, Soheila Mohammadi, a Kurdish political prisoner, sewed her lips together and started a hunger strike as a means of protest in Urmia Central Prison, Iran.
Her protest is a response to the denial of her right to be released from prison or be granted parole. Soheila Mohammadi has yet to be granted parole, although she has completed three years of a five-year sentence, which was imposed due to alleged connections with Free Life Party (PJAK).
Political prisoner Soheila Mohammadi was arrested by intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in autumn 2020 and sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of membership of the Free Life Party (PJAK). Mohammadi has been denied the right to parole for the past three years, a situation exacerbated by continuous pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In February 2023, 30-year-old Mohammadi attempted suicide by inflicting stab wounds to her chest in protest at the pressures imposed by government security forces, who persistently denied her parole or any other form of release. Her fellow prisoners intervened just in time, saving her life.
The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) is a Kurdish left-wing armed group which opposes the Islamic Republic.
