Users' Reactions to Death Sentence for Pakhshan Azizi: They Take Revenge on Women Activists in the Most Brutal Way

The announcement of a death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi, a jailed civil activist previously accused of 'baghi' (rebellion), sparked widespread protests from social media users and human rights organizations on Tuesday, July 23. The protests stated that the Islamic Republic is 'taking revenge on women activists in the most brutal way.' Ms. Azizi, from Mahabad, has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran and has been deprived of visits and contact with her family since early July at the order of Evin prison officials. This is the second death sentence in recent weeks for female political prisoners in Iran. Previously, Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist imprisoned in Lakan prison in Rasht, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of that city on similar charges. Atifeh Nabavi, a civil activist and former political prisoner, wrote on social media platform 'X': 'I can't believe it... I can't believe it. Pakhshan Azizi's brother wrote that Pakhshan has received a death sentence. I can't believe it, what a nightmare this is for the girl...' The human rights organization 'Hengaw' also pointed out that the issuance of a death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi comes at a time when 'she has been deprived of access to a lawyer and visits with her family for several months, and her trial process has been conducted in an opaque and unfair manner.' Hengaw had recently published a letter from this political prisoner, in which she mentioned that she had been tortured and suspended multiple times during her detention. Fatemeh Shahbaz Shams, a women's rights activist, also noted that 'they are taking revenge on women activists in the most brutal way,' adding: 'The issuance of death sentences one after another, long-term imprisonments and exiles, and the emergence of suspicious illnesses among female prisoners are forms of the repeated crimes of the Islamic Republic against women. We should not remain silent against these brutal sentences.' Forough Kananian, a sociologist, also wrote about this issue: 'A new wave of crimes by the Islamic Republic is on the way.' A user named Fariba on the platform 'X' pointed out the issuance of death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, stating: 'The Islamic Republic is no longer satisfied with anything less than the charge of baghi and the death sentence.' Another user, Saman Ghazali, raised the question: 'How will those who went to the polls and voted for reforms with the argument of 'fear of Jalili' face the death sentences of Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi?' Banafsha Jamali, an equality feminist, also wrote: 'The Islamic Republic is taking revenge on women who stand against it in this way.' Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, in announcing the issuance of a death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi, wrote: 'The issuance of a death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi comes at a time when Varisheh Moradi, a member of the Free Women of Eastern Kurdistan (Kajar), who was arrested simultaneously with her in Sanandaj, is also awaiting a similar sentence.' Ms. Azizi was arrested on August 4 last year by agents of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence in the Khrazhi neighborhood of Tehran, where she was interrogated and tortured in an intelligence detention center before being transferred to Ward 209 of Evin prison and later to the women's ward of that prison. In the winter of 2023, she was accused of 'baghi through membership in opposition groups' by Branch 5 of the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office. This political prisoner appeared on June 8 and 27 of this year for the examination of the charge of 'baghi' in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. Pakhshan Azizi had previously recounted her experience of arrest and torture by security agencies in a letter titled 'Concealment of Truth and Its Alternative,' which was received by Hengaw and published on July 31, two days before the announcement of her death sentence. She wrote that she was repeatedly hanged during interrogations, and they would lower her 10 meters to the ground and then pull her back up, considering her socially broken and defeated. Ms. Azizi has a history of previous arrests. She 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 28 of that year. She has always faced the charge of 'membership in opposition groups,' which she has consistently denied. The security and judicial apparatus of the Islamic Republic typically imposes heavy security charges on detained activists, resulting in severe sentences against them. This practice has drawn severe criticism from human rights organizations worldwide.