The health condition of Mazlum Dağ and Abdurrahman Er, who were sentenced to death in 2020 and have been on hunger strike in KDP custody for 52 days, is deteriorating.
Mazlum Dağ and Abdurrahman Er are accused of shooting dead the Turkish vice-consul and intelligence officer Osman Köse and two other people in a luxury restaurant in Hewlêr (Erbil), the capital of the South Kurdistan autonomous region, on 17 July 2019. In February 2020, Dağ and Er were sentenced to death by the 2nd Criminal Court in Hewlêr in a show trial under pressure from Turkey. Immediately following the trial, the two activists were placed in a prison cell next to ISIS jihadists. On 22 September 2020, the death sentences were confirmed by the Court of Cassation.
The two Kurdish prisoners have been constantly subjected to serious rights violations since the day they were imprisoned. The prisoners, who have repeatedly gone on hunger strikes so far in response to oppression and violations, started an indefinite hunger strike on 18 May to protest the ongoing violations, specifically the imposition of uniform dress. The health condition of the two Kurdish prisoners is deteriorating on the 52nd day of the hunger strike.
Residents of the self-administered Maxmur Camp in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) made a press statement in solidarity with Mazlum Dağ and Abdurrahman Er and condemned their ongoing detention.
Speaking here, Pakistan Bilen, a member of the Ishtar Council Coordination, condemned the KDP’s pressure against Dağ and Er, stressing that the policy of repression directed against them would never achieve its goal.
“As the people of Maxmur, we stand in solidarity with Dağ and Er who are on day 52 of a hunger strike against pressure. We believe that they will achieve their goal,” said Bilen.
