Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, Gilak political prisoner from Rasht, sentenced to death

Hengaw – Saturday, October 25, 2025

Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a 67-year-old Gilak political prisoner from Rasht, has been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary on the charge of “collaboration with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).”

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, presided over by Judge Ahmad Darvish-Goftar, issued the death sentence against Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, an electrical engineer and member of the Iranian Engineering Organization, despite the lack of sufficient evidence to support the charge.

The hearing was held last week via video conference and lasted less than ten minutes, during which Shahbaz Tabari was represented by a court-appointed lawyer. The court has given seven days for filing an appeal.

Zahra Shahbaz Tabari was arrested on April 16, 2025, during a raid on her home by Iranian security forces and was later transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht.

During the arrest, security agents searched her residence and confiscated her mobile phone, laptop, and those of a family member.

She had previously been arrested in a separate case related to peaceful social media activity and was released after three months under electronic surveillance.