Gulrox Irayi, Nahid Hudaco, Warisha Moradi, Meryem Yehwi, Reyhana Ensari, Sakine Perwana and Nesrin Hezri Cewadi, who are held in Evin prison, made a statement regarding the death sentence against Kurdish journalist Pakshan Azizi.

 The statement condemned the death sentence and called on everyone to take action against it. The statement called on the international community to recognise Pakshan Azizi as a community volunteer and to prevent the death penalty.

Background

Pakhshan Azizi is a social worker and also worked as a journalist. In August last year, she was arrested in Tehran by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and was severely tortured both physically and psychologically for weeks. She is currently in the notorious Evin prison. On 23 July, a court in Iran's capital sentenced Azizi to death by hanging for "armed rebellion against the system." Her file was sent to the Supreme Court 3 weeks ago.

She was accused, without evidence, of being a member of the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK). She herself denies the accusation as baseless and speaks of a political verdict. Trials in Iran are systematically unfair because prisoners are denied the right to due process, including access to legal counsel, and "confessions" extracted through torture are usually used as evidence for their conviction.

Pakhshan Azizi studied social work at Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, where she was first arrested in November 2009. She was accused of taking part in students’ protests against the execution of Kurdish political prisoners. She was released on bail in March 2010.

Additionally, Azizi faces a new charge of "rioting in prison" in a case being handled by Branch 3 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office, allegedly related to the second round of the 2024 presidential election.

She had also been arrested previously, on November 16, 2009, and was released on bail after four months.

In early August 2024, Aziz Azizi (Pakhshan’s father), Parshang Azizi (her sister), and Hossein Abbasi (her brother-in-law) were convicted in a joint case with Pakhshan Azizi. Each was sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to one year in prison for the charge of "assisting a criminal to evade trial and conviction." On September 26, the Court of Appeals confirmed these rulings.

Aziz Azizi, Parshang Azizi, and Hossein Abbasi were arrested at the same time as Pakhshan Azizi and later released on bail.

On 26 September, Pakhshan Azizi was taken from Evîn Prison to a hospital after her health problems worsened and doctors advised that she should be treated in hospital.

On 23 September, a post on Pakhshan Azizi’s digital media account stated that the journalist's request for treatment had been rejected.

The post said: "Pakhshan Azizi suffers from headaches and her family is ready to pay for her treatment, but she is still not allowed to see a doctor."