Second Female Political Prisoner Sentenced to Death; 'Pakhshan Azizi' Previously Accused of 'Baghi'

The Iran Human Rights Center announced on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, that Pakhshan Azizi, a political prisoner previously accused of 'Baghi', has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. Since early July, Azizi has been deprived of visits and contact with her family by the authorities at Evin Prison. According to the report, 'She was arrested on August 1, 2023, in Kharazi Town, Tehran, and subjected to interrogation and torture at the Intelligence Detention Center,' and was later transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison and subsequently to the women's ward. In the winter of 2024, she was charged with 'Baghi through membership in opposition groups' by Branch 5 of the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office. This political prisoner appeared on June 27 and July 16, 2024, for hearings regarding the 'Baghi' charge in Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. Human rights organizations state that Pakhshan Azizi has been subjected to torture and pressure from security officials to force her into making coerced confessions. Pakhshan Azizi, originally from Mahabad and a graduate in social work from Allameh Tabatabai University, was first arrested in November 2009 during a student protest against political executions in Kurdistan and was released on bail of 100 million tomans on March 18, 2010. She has consistently faced accusations of 'membership in opposition groups.' Rishi Moradi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, two other political prisoners, are also imprisoned on 'Baghi' charges. Sharifeh Mohammadi, who had been a member of the 'Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations' over a decade ago, was arrested in December of last year and sentenced to death on July 4 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Rasht on 'Baghi' charges. This sentence was issued based on accusations from the Ministry of Intelligence regarding her alleged membership in 'Komala,' which has been vehemently denied by Mohammadi, her husband, Siros Fathi, and Komala. The Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations, which Sharifeh Mohammadi was part of in the 2000s, has also rejected the charges against her. According to Human Rights Watch, Iranian authorities have intensified the repression of activist women and human rights defenders following the nationwide 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests in 2022, resorting to harsher methods and issuing severe sentences to silence dissenters and dissidents. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that Pakhshan Azizi, a political prisoner in Evin, has been deprived of her right to contact and visit her family. Human Rights Watch has called for the 'immediate release' of Sharifeh Mohammadi. The condemnation of the death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi continues from various organizations in Iran. Concerns are rising regarding the imminent execution of a political prisoner; Kamran Sheikha has been transferred to solitary confinement. A letter from 11 female political prisoners states that exposing 'gender apartheid' is a pathway to fighting against discrimination. The issuance of death sentences for four Baluch prisoners and the accusation of 'Baghi' against a Kurdish social worker has also been reported. A female political prisoner has been charged with 'Baghi' in the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Tehran.