Sanandaj: Asad Ghafouri, Kurdish university professor and campaign leader for saving Pakhshan Azizi's Life, arrested

Hengaw: Sunday, January 19, 2025

Dr. Asad Ghafouri, a university lecturer and one of the administrators of the "Save Pakhshan Azizi's Life" campaign, was arrested by security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and transferred to an undisclosed location.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Dr. Ghafouri was arrested at approximately 2:00 PM on Saturday, January 18, 2025, following a raid by the Intelligence Department forces on his home.

Informed sources stated that Dr. Ghafouri, a Mechanical Engineering Department faculty member at Islamic Azad University in Sanandaj, and other administrators of the Telegram campaign had successfully gathered over 5,000 signatures supporting their cause.

Hengaw has learned that shortly after Dr. Ghafouri's arrest, the Intelligence Department blocked the Telegram group dedicated to collecting signatures for the campaign, rendering it inaccessible to its administrators.

Recently, the death sentence of Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish political prisoner, was upheld by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Previously, her lawyers had raised concerns about the influence of security agencies on the case and expressed doubts about the possibility of her exoneration through the appeals process.