Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish journalist and human rights activist, was also arrested, first in 2009 during a student demonstration, then again on 4 August 2023 on her return to Iran. During her detention, she was denied access to her family and her lawyer, and was subjected to torture. On 23 July 2024, she was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and the death penalty on similar charges related to her alleged membership of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK). On 8 January 2025, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed Pakhshan Azizi’s death sentence. She could therefore be executed at any time.
Varisheh Moradi is a Kurdish women’s rights activist and political activist, and a member of the East Kurdistan Free Women’s Community. Charged with baghi (armed insurrection) by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, she was arrested in August 2023 by the Iranian security forces and detained for a long period in an unknown location, without any contact with her family or access to a lawyer of her choice. Despite the lack of evidence and the judge’s refusal to allow her to defend herself, the second hearing in her trial took place in October 2024.
Repression in Iran is intensifying, particularly since the birth of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement triggered by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The Iranian authorities are using the death penalty as a tool to crush dissent, disproportionately targeting political activists and ethnic minorities in order to create a climate of fear. The figures are alarming: in 2024, at least 975 executions were recorded, including 31 women, marking a 17% increase on the 834 executions in 2023. This is the highest number of executions in Iran since 2008.
Faced with this situation, ACAT-France is calling for a general mobilisation to support the Iranian people in their struggle against this implacable repression.
©DR/Private photo
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