Exclusive to Radio Farda; Execution of Pakhshan Azizi Halted

Radio Farda has learned that the execution of Pakhshan Azizi, which had been referred to the execution branch after confirmation by the Supreme Court, has been halted following a request for retrial submitted to the institution. An informed source told Radio Farda on Wednesday, January 23, that Pakhshan Azizi's lawyers have registered a request for retrial in her case at the Supreme Court, and based on this, the execution order for this political prisoner has been stopped. According to Article 478 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 'If the punishment stated in the ruling is of the type that deprives life or other bodily punishments or demolitions, the Supreme Court branch, upon receiving the request for retrial before making a decision on the request, will order the suspension of the execution of the ruling.' Pakhshan Azizi, a social worker and civil activist, was sentenced to death in early August this year by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Iman Afshari, on charges of 'Baghi' for 'membership in groups that have engaged in armed rebellion against the Islamic government.' Ms. Azizi had previously worked as a social worker in Syrian Kurdistan, providing assistance to Yazidi women who had escaped from ISIS. Protests have erupted in several cities in western Iran in response to the death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi. The lawyer for this political prisoner announced on Wednesday, January 9, that the death sentence issued by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, despite numerous formal and substantive objections, has been confirmed by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, this informed source told Radio Farda that a meeting was held on the night of Tuesday, January 2, at the Kurdistan governorate with the presence of a representative from the Ministry of Intelligence, the Security Council of Kurdistan Province, and officials from the province's guilds. In this meeting, guild officials were asked to halt the strike on Wednesday in Kurdistan in protest against the death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi. The representative of the Ministry of Intelligence stated in this meeting: 'We will prevent the execution of Pakhshan Azizi; you stop the strike.' In this context, merchants in various cities of Kurdistan have gone on strike in protest against the death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi. Numerous images and videos of this strike have been published from cities including Saqqez, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Divandareh. The Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported on Wednesday morning, citing an informed source from the National Security Council, that the execution of Ms. Azizi has been postponed. However, hours later, the ISNA news agency described this account from Tasnim as a 'misinterpretation,' stating that there has been 'no change in the death sentence of this political prisoner and her lawyer is pursuing a review of the issued ruling.'