Tehran: Lack of Information Persists Three Months After Arrest of Former Political Prisoner Pakhshan Azizi

Hengaw: Thursday, November 9, 2023

Pakhshan Azizi, a journalist, social worker, and former Kurdish political prisoner, has been in custody for 97 days, detained at the Evin Detention Center in Tehran, with little information available about her current condition.

According to reports received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Pakshan Azizi, a graduate in social studies, is held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, recognized as the detention center of the Intelligence Department.

Sources knowledgeable about the matter reveal that, since her recent arrest, Azizi has been denied the right to legal representation, visits, and communication with her family.

On August 4, 2023, security forces apprehended Pakhshan Azizi in Kharazi town, Tehran, under the authority of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hengaw has learned that, along with the former political prisoner, several members of her family were also detained and subsequently released after a few days.

It is noteworthy that Azizi was previously arrested on November 16, 2009, during a protest by Kurdish students at Tehran University against the execution of political prisoners in Kurdistan. Following four months in custody, she was released on bail of 100 million tomans on March 9, 2010.

Due to continuous pressure and threats from security institutions, Pakhshan Azizi later left Iran. In addition to researching the situation of women in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan, she engaged in social work to address and improve their circumstances.