World Day Against the Death Penalty: Unlimited Hunger Strike by Varisheh Moradi in Protest of Executions in Iran
Hengaw; Thursday, October 10, 2024
Varisheh Moradi (also known as Ciwana Sine), a Kurdish political prisoner and member of the The East Kurdistan Free Woman Society (KJAR), began an unlimited hunger strike on World Day Against the Death Penalty. Her strike is in protest of her uncertain legal status and the rising number of executions carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Thursday, October 10, 2024, Moradi, who is accused of “baghi” (armed rebellion), launched her hunger strike to protest the increasing issuance and execution of death sentences, as well as her unresolved case in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Her second court session took place on October 5, 2024, in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. During the session, Moradi and her lawyers were not allowed to present a defense. Her lawyers, who were previously denied access to her case file, were only given a few hours to review it after the session.
Notably, Varisheh Moradi’s second trial session had initially been postponed on August 4, 2024, after after she refused to attend in protest of the issuance of death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi. The trial was delayed again on August 28, 2024, due to the absence of the prosecutor’s representative and the presiding judge, Judge Amouzad.
Since May 6, 2024, Moradi has been denied the right to contact family members or lawyers, as well as the right to receive visitation, by order of Judge Salavati.
Following the execution of Kurdish political prisoner Reza Rasai, who was arrested during the (Woman, Life, Freedom), a protest erupted among female inmates at Evin Prison on August 6, 2024. This protest escalated into a clash between prisoners and guards, leading to further punishment for several prisoners, including Varisheh Moradi, who were denied family contact for two additional months by the prison’s disciplinary committee.
Moradi’s first court session took place on June 16, 2024, where she was charged with “baghi” due to her membership in KJAR. During that session, neither she nor her lawyers were allowed to present a defense.
On May 14, 2024, Moradi was transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison for further interrogation. In protest of this transfer, she and Pakhshan Azizi began a two-day hunger strike.
In February 2024, Moradi was formally charged with “baghi through membership in the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK)" by the 5th Branch of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office. Her case was later referred to Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati, after an indictment was issued.
Varisheh Moradi was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison on December 26, 2023, after spending five months in solitary confinement in Ward 209. Earlier in August 2023, she had been transferred to Evin Prison following interrogations and torture at the Intelligence department’s detention center in Sanandaj, where she was subjected to both physical and psychological torture.
It is worth noting that Moradi was forcibly disappeared by agents of the Intelligence Department on August 1, 2023, on the Marivan-Sanandaj road. During the enforced disappearance, she was severely beaten and transferred to a detention center without receiving any medical attention.
