The death sentences of Kurdish women’s activists Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi were protested by the Association of Women Journalists (ROJIN) and the women’s umbrella organisation Kongra Star, based in North and East Syria. Azizi and Mohammadi have been sentenced to death for “Baghi” (armed insurgency against the Islamic State) in separate trials before ‘Islamic revolutionary courts’ in Iran in recent weeks.
In a written statement, ROJIN noted that, “Due to the increasing war policies in our time, society increasingly needs to be informed. The pressure on journalists by totalitarian regimes is increasing.” The statement highlighted that Iran is among the countries with the highest levels of repression against journalists and that “after the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (Woman, Life, Freedom) uprisings that began in 2022, a new wave of attacks against journalists was launched”.
“We salute journalists and women activists like Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, who stand against the pressures of fascist and misogynistic states, bearing a heavy burden to publicly advocate for women’s resistance,” the statement continued, ending with a call to women’s rights and press associations to recognise the “struggle against execution as a human duty”.
Women activists of Kongra Star gathered on the Free Women’s square in Kobanê in North and East Syria to join a statement condemning the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi. The statement, read by Kongra Star spokeswoman Peyman Elûş, highlighted the need for a common struggle against attacks on women and remembered the global wave of solidarity that emerged in 2022 when the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî uprisings began in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat).
Peyman Elûş stated that the Iranian regime “is committing inhumane crimes against women” and that “religion, fear and violence are used to paralyse the struggle of women”. She explained that women are organising themselves against these attacks and that “a return to the grey prehistoric times is not possible because women have perceived the scent of freedom.”
The statement also expressed concern about Warisheh Moradi. The activist from the Community of Free Women of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR) was arrested in Iran a year ago and has also been threatened with the death penalty.
