37 Female Political Prisoners Denied Family Visits Due to Protests Against Death Sentence for Pakhshan Azizi

A page attributed to Golrokh Iraee, a political prisoner, reported that the women's ward office of Evin Prison deprived 37 female political prisoners of their right to visit their families due to their "night sit-in on August 3 and 6" in the prison yard. The news did not specify the duration of the deprivation but stated that this action followed the prisoners' protest against the issuance of a death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi, who has also been denied family visits. Previously, Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, announced on August 6 that political and ideological female prisoners in Evin Prison declared they would gather in the prison yard from 7 PM that day in continuation of their protest against the death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi and would not return to their ward. On August 3, Mohammadi's Instagram page reported that the political and ideological female prisoners raised their voices against the death sentence for Azizi by collectively gathering in the prison yard. The announcement of the death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi, born in Mahabad and previously accused of "baghi" (rebellion), has sparked widespread protests among social media users and human rights organizations. This is the second death sentence issued for female political prisoners in Iran in recent weeks. Previously, Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist imprisoned in Lakan Prison in Rasht, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of that city on charges of baghi. According to reports, agents of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence arrested Pakhshan Azizi in Kharazi Town, Tehran, on August 4, 2023, and subjected her to interrogation and torture in an intelligence detention center. She was then transferred to Ward 209 and subsequently to the women's ward of Evin Prison. The 5th branch of the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office accused her in the winter of 2023 of "baghi through membership in opposition groups." This political prisoner appeared in the 26th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on June 8 and 27 of this year to address the charge of baghi. Pakhshan Azizi had previously recounted her account of arrest and torture by security agencies in a letter titled "Concealment of Truth and Its Alternative," which was obtained by Hengaw and published on July 31, two days before the announcement of her death sentence. She wrote that she was repeatedly subjected to hanging during interrogations, was submerged 10 meters underground, and was brought back out, being labeled as socially defeated and broken. Azizi has a history of previous arrests, first detained in November 2009 during a student protest against political executions and released on bail of 100 million tomans on March 28 of the same year. She has consistently faced accusations of "membership in opposition groups," which she has always denied. The security and judicial apparatus of the Islamic Republic typically levies heavy security charges against detained activists, resulting in severe sentences against them. This practice has drawn severe criticism from human rights organizations worldwide. Reactions from social and student activists to the death sentences for Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi indicate that the regime is retaliating against the uprising for women, life, and freedom. The Iran Human Rights Campaign urges the international community to take a stance against the issuance of death sentences for female political prisoners in Iran. Vida Rabani's letter from Evin emphasizes that the gap between arrest and the delivery of the accused to the judiciary can be filled with any form of violence. The International Coalition for "Freedom for Narges" has called for the immediate release of Narges Mohammadi and access to medical care for her. New charges have been brought against Shakila Monfared; this political prisoner has gone on hunger strike despite her poor physical condition. Political prisoners in Qezel Hesar have emphasized the continuation of "Tuesdays No to Execution"; eight female prisoners in Rasht have joined the hunger strike. Thousands of teachers, labor activists, and workers have called for the release of "the messenger of Iranian teachers."