Farhad Mithaemi and Nasrin Sotoudeh Protest Sharifeh Mohammadi's Death Sentence with Hunger Strike

Nasrin Sotoudeh and Farhad Mithaemi, human rights defenders, announced that they will go on a hunger strike if Sharifeh Mohammadi's death sentence is not revoked. In a message on the occasion of 'October 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty', Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and former political prisoner, stated that she will join a hunger strike and sit-in in front of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht to oppose the death sentence issued for Sharifeh Mohammadi. Previously, Farhad Mithaemi, a former political prisoner, had announced that he would also stage a sit-in and hunger strike in front of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht if this sentence is carried out. The campaign to defend Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist sentenced to death, announced on Tuesday, October 9, 2023, that the increasing calls for the cancellation of the death sentence represent a strong rejection of state-sanctioned murder. Sharifeh Mohammadi, 45, from Miyaneh in East Azerbaijan and residing in Rasht, was arrested by the Rasht Intelligence Department on December 5, 2023, on charges of 'propaganda against the regime.' According to the ruling of the Rasht Revolutionary Court, Ms. Mohammadi has been sentenced to death for 'baghi' or 'armed rebellion.' Her membership in the 'Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations' has been cited as a basis for her charges, and the Revolutionary Court has also attributed the charge of 'membership in the Komala Party' to this labor activist. Sources from Radio Farda indicate that despite her social concerns, Sharifeh Mohammadi has had no political activities, and the issuance of the death sentence against this labor activist on the basis of the attributed charge of 'baghi' by the judiciary aims to intimidate the labor movement in Iran. According to Amnesty International's report, at least 853 people were executed in Iran in 2023, 48% more than the previous year, which the organization attributed to 'the Iranian government's efforts to spread fear and terror among the people regarding the consequences of protesting against the regime.' The increase in executions in Iran comes at a time when for months, a number of political prisoners have launched a 'No to Execution' campaign, striving to draw global attention to the executions in Iran from within prison. The severe government crackdown and the risk of protests going 'underground' are evident in the accounts of doctors and eyewitnesses regarding the injured from protests.