A Kurdish Iranian journalist, social worker, and political prisoner has been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary on charges of “rebellion.”
Pakhshan Azizi was convicted of “membership in groups that waged an armed uprising against the Islamic government and whose leaders are involved in rebellion.”
In addition to the death sentence, she received a four-year prison term for alleged membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK).
The court proceedings, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, took place on May 28 and June 16, 2024.
The verdict was sent to Azizi’s lawyers on Tuesday.
She is currently held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she has reportedly been deprived of phone calls and visitation rights for the past two weeks.
In a letter recently published by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Azizi cited multiple instances of torture and harassment during her detention.
Her arrest on August 4, 2023, by Iranian Intelligence Forces in Tehran’s Kharazi town marked the beginning of her current ordeal.
Azizi’s history of activism dates back to at least 2009 when she was arrested during a Kurdish students’ protest in Tehran against executions in Kurdistan.
After her release in 2010, she left Iran due to pressures and threats from security institutions, subsequently engaging in social work focused on women’s issues in Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan.
Source » iranwire