Protest by Female Prisoners in Evin Against Death Sentence for Pakhshan Azizi

According to reports, a group of female political prisoners held in Evin Prison have stated that they are staging a protest in the prison yard against the death sentence issued for Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish civil activist. Based on a joint statement published on Instagram by some of these prisoners, including Narges Mohammadi, Golrokh Iraei, and Nahid Taghavi, the women in Evin will gather in the prison yard from 7 PM on Saturday until Sunday morning and will not return to their cells. There has been no news yet about this protest or any potential response from the authorities at Evin Prison. The political prisoners emphasized in their joint statement: "We ask everyone to join us with the slogan 'No to Execution'." This is the second protest by female prisoners in Evin against the sentence for Pakhshan Azizi; they had also protested in the women's yard from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning (the night of the 3rd to the 4th of Mordad) chanting slogans such as 'No to Execution'. Following this, political prisoners held in Qazalhasar Prison in Karaj also announced their support for this protest movement. Protests by prisoners, including sit-ins, have always been accompanied by punitive measures. Atena Daemi, a former political prisoner, noted in a tweet that previous protests by prisoners in Evin and Qarchak were either met with violence from the guards to return prisoners to their cells or subsequent punishments such as new sentences and cancellation of visits and phone calls. Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish civil activist, has been imprisoned since last August, and a few days ago, her lawyers confirmed in an interview with 'Shargh Network' that the Tehran Revolutionary Court's ruling sentencing their client to death on charges of 'Baghi' (rebellion) had been communicated to them. Pakhshan Azizi, a graduate in social work, has been held in the Ministry of Intelligence detention center and then in Ward 209 of Evin Prison for the past year. In a letter published recently on the Hengaw website, she described the torture she endured during interrogation, stating that she had been "hanged multiple times by interrogators". About two weeks before the death sentence was issued for Pakhshan Azizi on charges of Baghi, Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist imprisoned in Lakan Prison in Rasht, was also sentenced to death on similar charges. Additionally, according to human rights sources, among eight protesters whose trials are ongoing, at least two named Nasim Gholami Simiyari and Hamidreza Sahlabadi are facing charges of 'Baghi'. Rishah Moradi, a Kurdish political prisoner, has also been accused of Baghi. According to the 'Islamic Penal Code', Baghi means armed uprising against the Islamic Republic, and the punishment can be death. However, the lawyers of these prisoners have stated that no evidence of armed activity by their clients has been presented in the case.