Arrest of a University Professor Protesting Death Sentences

According to the Amir Kabir News Telegram channel, a university professor in Kurdistan province has been arrested. The Amir Kabir News identified this professor as Asad Ghafouri, a faculty member of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj branch, and stated that he was one of the officials of the campaign "Stop the Execution of Pakhshan Azizi." According to this student information organization, Ghafouri was arrested by security forces in Sanandaj and transferred to one of the security detention centers. Pakhshan Azizi was sentenced to death and four years in prison on August 24 of this year by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Iman Afshari, on charges of "rebellion through membership in opposition groups in the country." He was arrested last summer by the intelligence forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran. The Deputy Special Representative of the United States for Iran also called for the cancellation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence on Tuesday, January 15. May Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, also expressed concern on Thursday, January 17, about the confirmation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A "No to Execution" rally was held in London to save the life of Pakhshan Azizi and Vrisheh Moradi. Another video from the civil activists' rally in Sanandaj against the death sentence of Pakhshan Azizi. The UN Special Rapporteur's concern about the confirmation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence. Several labor and teachers' organizations have called for the cancellation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence.