More than seven months without visits for death row political prisoner Varisheh Moradi
Hengaw: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Varisheh Moradi, a Kurdish political prisoner, women’s rights advocate, and member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR), has been deprived of her fundamental right to in-person visits for over seven months.
According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Varisheh Moradi, from Sanandaj (Sine) and currently held in Evin Prison, has been denied family and legal visits for the past 218 days.
This restriction was initially imposed by Judge Abolqasem Salavati and remains in effect under his directive.
On Thursday, October 10, 2024, coinciding with the “World Day Against the Death Penalty,” Moradi initiated a 20-day hunger strike to protest the issuance and implementation of death sentences by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In November 2024, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, sentenced Varisheh Moradi to death on charges of "baghi (“rebellion”) through membership in the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK)."
The most recent hearing in Moradi’s case occurred on October 6, 2024. During both her initial hearing on June 16, 2024, and the subsequent session, her lawyers were denied access to review her case file. Furthermore, Moradi was not permitted to defend herself during court proceedings.
In a separate case, Moradi and four other political prisoners in Evin Prison were sentenced to six months of discretionary imprisonment in November 2024 by the Criminal Court II of the Qods Judicial Complex in Tehran, presided over by Judge Abolfazl Ameri Shahrabi.
On Tuesday, December 26, 2023, after five months in solitary confinement at the Ministry of Intelligence detention center, known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison, Moradi was transferred to the women’s ward of the prison. Earlier, in late August 2023, she had been moved to Ward 209 of Evin Prison after being interrogated and tortured at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office detention center.
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Varisheh Moradi was abducted by Ministry of Intelligence agents on the road from Marivan to Sanandaj. During her abduction, she was severely beaten and transferred to a detention center without receiving any medical care.
Varisheh Moradi was subjected to severe torture during her detention at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office. According to eyewitness accounts, the torture was so extreme that she coughed up blood and lost consciousness on at least one occasion.
