Warisheh Moradi’s second court hearing in Iran has been postponed again. Moradi, also known as Joanna Sine, is a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR). Her case, scheduled for 7 September 2024, was delayed yet again due to the absence of the prosecutor’s representative and the court advisor.
Moradi is charged with ‘baghi’, or armed rebellion against the state, related to allegations that she is a member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK).
Arrested on 1 August 2023 by Ministry of Intelligence forces at the Sanandaj-Kamiaran road police station, Moradi has since been subjected to severe physical assault and psychological abuse.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Moradi was transferred from Evin Prison’s women’s wing to attend Branch 15 of the Tehran Islamic Revolution Court. However, Judge Salavati ruled that the upcoming hearing would be postponed again. During the transfer, Moradi faced disrespect from Nouriani, an Evin prison assistant, prompting her to stage a protest.
This latest delay follows a previous postponement on 14 August, which occurred when Moradi refused to attend the session in protest against the death sentences imposed on fellow activists Azizi and Sharifah Mohammadi.
The first court session for Warisheh Moradi was held on 16 June 2024, at Branch 15 of the Tehran Islamic Revolution Court. During this session, Moradi was denied the opportunity to present a defense, and Judge Salvati did not permit Moradi’s lawyers to represent her.
Moradi was then placed in solitary confinement the following day for further interrogation. Despite enduring severe conditions, and participating in a hunger strike along with Pakhshan Azizi, Moradi remains steadfast in her protest against the unjust legal proceedings.
In a published letter, Moradi detailed the torture and mistreatment she has endured during her detention. She condemned the regime’s actions, stating, “Issuing unjust execution warrants for female activists Sharifah Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi within a single month starkly reveals the Islamic Republic of Iran’s political inefficiency and desperation. The façade of a powerful new government, alongside efforts to instil terror and impose repression on the eve of the [anniversary of the] Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (Women, Life, Freedom) revolution, is merely an illusion.”
In her recent letter released on 29 August, from Evin Prison, Moradi addressed the public opinion, emphasising Abdullah Öcalan’s assertion that women are the first colonised nation. She wrote:
“We, the people of this colonised nation, regardless of our language, nationality and belief, are like one soul in several bodies. For example, when time hurts one part, it doesn’t spare the other parts, we feel all the pains of each other. In this cruel and inhuman prison, our human side blossoms more and femininity passes the test of its strength and humanity and comes out proud. This is where history turns upside down! This ‘colonised nation’ no longer surrenders to the blade of fate and brings the historical process of women’s individual struggle to another stage. Together and hand in hand with each other and with the solidarity that only women can show in the face of events.”
Moradi celebrates what was built during Iran’s Jin Jiyan Azadî uprising in 2022-23, although she laments that many people have been lost along the way. She points out that women came together during that time to build and defend a “vital way of life”.
Her message underscores her steadfast determination to resist the Iranian regime, even from incarceration. She said that in the prison:
“I am united with women and spend every moment with those who are victims of this patriarchal system in some way. And we are also the ones who have raised our heads against this oppression and raised the science of opposition to misogyny and femicide.”
Moradi vividly illustrates the spirit of resistance and rebellion inside Evin Women’s Prison:
“Our life, our breathing in these walls, where the fists of thousands of fighters are engraved, is for that. Every position we take, every behaviour we do, every action we show is within the framework of this oneness and unity that is formed around our love for ‘free life’.”
“This is how women will shape the history of this country and this is how they will spread the seal of ‘women, life, freedom’ in the world and stamp it on life,” she concluded.
