Iranian Appeals Court Reduces Kurdish Journalist and Activist Zhina Modares Gorji’s Prison Sentence to Two Years and Four Months
Hengaw: Saturday, October 5, 2024
Zhina Modares Gorji, a prominent Kurdish women’s rights activist and journalist from Sanandaj, who was arrested twice during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison, has had her sentence reduced to 2 years and 4 months by the Iranian appeals court.
According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the Fourth Branch of the Iranian Appeals Court in Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province recently sentenced Modares Gorji to 16 months in prison for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime” and an additional year for “propaganda against the regime.”
Hengaw has learned that Modares Gorji was acquitted of the charge of “collaboration with hostile groups and governments.” Moreover, her exile to Hamedan Central Prison was revoked, and she will serve her primary sentence of 16 months in the women’s ward of Sanandaj Central Prison.
Previously sentenced to a total of 21 years, with 10 years to be served, Modares Gorji had appealed the verdict issued by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. Her defense attorneys were Saleh Nikbakht and Taher (Shuresh) Tohidi.
Initially, the First Branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj presided over by Judge Karami, had sentenced Modares Gorji to 10 years for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime,” 10 years for “collaboration with hostile groups and governments,” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime,” along with exile to Alvand Prison in Hamedan.
The last hearing on her charges was held on April 9, 2024, and the final verdict was officially communicated to her on Thursday, May 23.
Hengaw had previously reported that the charges against Zhina Modares Gorji included “establishing the Zhivano Association with a feminist ideology aimed at overthrowing the regime,” “purposeful participation in protests and chanting anti-establishment slogans,” “communication with anti-revolutionary elements,” “participation in international conferences and workshops,” “publishing content on social media, and giving interviews to foreign media to portray the country’s situation negatively and incite unrest after the death of Mahsa Amini.”
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court has also referred the charge of “spreading falsehoods and inciting people to violent acts” to the Criminal Court, assigning Criminal Court 2 in Sanandaj to handle the case.
On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, after being held in solitary confinement for a month at the Sanandaj Juvenile Detention Center, Modares Gorji was transferred to the general ward. On Monday, April 9, 2024, she was abducted by Iranian government forces on her way home from work by the intelligence officers. She was temporarily released on July 3 of the same year after 84 days in detention on a heavy bail of five billion tomans.
Previously, on Thursday, September 22, 2022, she had been arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement by Iranian intelligence forces in Sanandaj. After 40 days of detention in the women’s ward of Sanandaj Prison, she was temporarily released on November 8, 2022, with a bail of 100 million tomans pending the completion of her trial.
