Kourosh Za'im: The Reason for My Conviction is My Activities in the National Front of Iran

Kourosh Za'im, at 78 years old, is considered one of the oldest political prisoners. On Saturday, April 5, he was granted medical leave from Evin Prison for treatment after undergoing surgery. He told Radio Farda that this is a medical leave for recovery at home for five days, which has been extended until after the Thirteen Bedar holiday on Wednesday, April 9. Za'im mentioned a three-year suspended sentence in 2011 and a one-year prison sentence in 2015, which was later converted to a custodial sentence, totaling four years. He has been in prison for about eight and a half months. He is currently serving his sentence in the general ward of Evin Prison, where financial, criminal, political, and security prisoners are all together, and security issues are not enforced there. He stated, "I had a three-year suspended sentence, then I was tried again and received a one-year custodial sentence, but since it seems I committed the offenses I was supposed to avoid, that three years was also converted to custodial, totaling four years. Now I have been imprisoned for about eight and a half months." In response to a question from Radio Farda about whether he has been in contact with human rights activists and prominent political prisoners, he referred to Arash Sadeghi and his deteriorating health after a seventy-day hunger strike, mentioning a statement he issued in support of him titled, "The Bobby Sands of Iran is named Arash." Regarding the possibility of release before the end of his sentence, he stated that if his two sentences, both related to his activities in the National Front of Iran, are merged, there is a possibility of conditional release after serving one-third of his sentence. This political activist has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times and has authored and translated works that have been published.