Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish political activist, journalist, women’s rights advocate, social worker, and political detainee born in Mahabad on July 24, 1984, was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, on allegations of subversion due to her involvement with opposition organizations.
Azizi was initially apprehended on November 15, 2009, during a demonstration staged by Kurdish students at Tehran University protesting political executions in Kurdistan. She was apprehended by security personnel, released after four months in detention under a guarantee, and subsequently departed from Iran.
Later on, on August 4, 2023, Pakhshan Azizi was detained once more by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and moved to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. From that point until the pronouncement of the death sentence, Azizi was subjected to both mental and physical questioning and mistreatment.
In a message sent from Evin Prison outlining her mistreatment by security forces of the Islamic Republic, Azizi expressed: “I have been subjected to numerous interrogations.”
Another section of Azizi’s message notes: “The concealment of truth and an alternate narrative of my arrest and detention are outlined, involving approximately 20 security officers who stormed in, intimidated family members and acquaintances, and conducted aggressive arrests.”
Azizi described the tactics employed by interrogators to break her resolve: “They forcibly interrogated me and labeled me as a societal outcast.”
Following the widespread protests of 2022, known as the Women’s Revolution, during which women activists and defenders of human rights were targeted, officials of the Islamic Republic reportedly heightened their suppression efforts, resorting to more severe measures to stifle dissenting voices and deliver harsh sentences.
The Nemiran Center vehemently condemns the unfair death sentence imposed on Pakhshan Azizi and urges all to denounce this unjust execution sentence.
Authored and compiled by: Ghader Sohrabi
