The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for Kurdish political prisoner Pakhshan Azizi, despite significant procedural flaws. Her lawyer, Amir Raisiyan, revealed that the court disregarded evidence pointing to her peaceful activities in refugee camps in northern Syria, which were mischaracterized as political crimes.
Azizi, a social work graduate and activist from Mahabad, was arrested in Tehran in August 2023 and tortured during interrogation to force a confession. She was accused of “rebellion through membership in opposition groups” and sentenced in June 2024 by Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Azizi has a history of activism, including a 2009 arrest during student protests against political executions in Kurdistan. Released on bail in 2010, she was rearrested in 2023 on similar charges.
Iran HRM calls for urgent intervention in this case. The use of torture, forced confessions, and flawed judicial proceedings underscores the Iranian regime’s systematic violations of human rights.
