Reportedly, the Southern Azerbaijani political activist, Abbas Lesani of Ardabil who was detained on Jan 15th 2019 In Tabriz and transferred to the Ardabil Prison on Jan 22nd has gone on hunger strike demanding his unconditional release. Mr. Lesani is being held incommunicado, and despite repeated attempts no information pertaining his well-being has been communicated to his relatives.

According to the local sources, the activist has been transferred to penitentiary system to serve his most recent conviction of 10 months imprisonment for attending a peaceful gathering at the commemoration ceremony of Azerbaijani musician Hasan Damirchi. According the Revolutionary Tribunal of Persian regime, Mr. Lesani “made subversive attempts against the national security” in his speech!

Lisani has spent almost a decade either in prison or in exile due to his activities to secure the linguistic and ethnic rights of over 30 million Azerbaijanis.