Arrest of 8 Citizens Protesting Death Sentences in Sanandaj and Saqez

News sources reported that following a widespread strike in Iranian Kurdish cities and protests against the issuance of death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi, at least eight citizens were arrested in the cities of Sanandaj and Saqez. According to a report on Thursday, January 24, by the Human Rights Activists in Iran, Hirsh Navgaranzadeh in Sanandaj and Amjad Salehzadeh in Saqez were arrested by the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies. Additionally, the website 'Hengaw' reported that Amjad Garmakhizi and Naeem Doosti, two citizens of Sanandaj, were arrested by intelligence agents due to their participation in the strikes on Wednesday, January 23, which protested the death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi, and were taken to an unknown location. The report also mentioned that Mohammad Seyfpanahi, Sina Rezaei, Mohammad Atalasi, and Omid Mohammadi, who are merchants from Sanandaj, were arrested in the center of Kurdistan province. On Wednesday, multiple images of closed shop shutters with the title 'Strike Against the Death Sentences of Two Female Prisoners' were published from cities in western Iran, where most of the Kurdish citizens live. Judicial and intelligence officials have not yet announced the reasons for the arrests or the charges against these individuals, and it is unclear which detention centers they are in. The widespread protests by citizens through merchants' strikes in western Iranian cities were aimed at opposing the death sentences for Varisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi. Concurrently with these strikes, news sources reported the suspension of the execution of Pakhshan Azizi. However, the 'Free Varisheh Moradi' campaign, a political prisoner sentenced to death in Evin Prison, announced on Wednesday, January 23, that there has been no development in his case and his life remains in danger.