برای خواندن این مطلب به فارسی اینجا را کلیک کنید
The Supreme Court of Iran has overturned the death sentence of Varisheh (Wirishe) Moradi, a Kurdish political activist and women’s rights advocate, after identifying serious procedural violations and deficiencies in the investigation conducted by the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, announced on X that the Supreme Court ruled the original death sentence invalid “due to incomplete investigations and failure to observe legal procedures, including failure to formally inform the defendant of the charge that formed the basis of the execution ruling.” The case has now been returned to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court for retrial.
Moradi, a 41-year-old activist from Sanandaj, was sentenced to death on November 11, 2024, on the charge of “baghi” (armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic) under Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code. However, the indictment had charged her under Article 288, which carries a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison, not death. Article 288 states that if members of an alleged armed group are arrested before any armed confrontation, they are subject to imprisonment, not execution. Article 287, by contrast, allows the death penalty only if weapons were used in an armed uprising.
According to sources familiar with the case, the death sentence was issued by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, who — contrary to the indictment — changed the legal basis from Article 288 to Article 287 at the final moment, without notifying the defense and without allowing Moradi or her lawyers to review the file or present a defense. Human rights lawyer Saeed Dehghan described the trial as “illegal”, stating that the court ignored the discrepancies between the indictment and the final verdict, and that Judge Salavati relied on “his own knowledge at the last minute” to impose the death penalty.
Reports also indicate that Moradi was arrested violently on August 1, 2023, near Sanandaj Airport while traveling from Kermanshah. Her family had no information about her whereabouts for four months. She spent five months in solitary confinement in intelligence detention centers and Evin Prison’s Ward 209 before being transferred to the women’s ward.
Her first court session was held on June 16, 2024, without prior notice to her lawyers. The court did not allow her defense team to study the case file or speak during the session. In a letter written from prison in September 2024, Moradi described the Revolutionary Court as a “kangaroo court” and stated that she refused to attend one of the hearings in protest against unjust sentences issued against other Kurdish women activists, including Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi.
Moradi is known as a women’s rights and environmental activist and reportedly had a history of fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish women in Kobani, where she was also injured. According to Kurdish human rights groups, she was affiliated with KJAR (Kongreya Jinên Azad), the women’s wing of the Free and Democratic Society of Eastern Kurdistan (KODAR), which is linked to the PJAK (Free Life Party of Kurdistan). Iranian courts often treat such affiliations as evidence of “armed rebellion,” even when no weapons are used.
Her conviction and death sentence had been condemned by human rights advocates who argued that Moradi was subjected to torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and a deeply flawed judicial process. They emphasized that the legal basis of her sentence was altered unlawfully and that she was never informed of the charge that ultimately resulted in her death sentence — a violation that became central to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ruling.
While the Supreme Court’s decision halts the execution, it does not acquit Moradi. Her fate now rests with the same Revolutionary Court that issued the original sentence, raising concerns among rights organizations about whether the retrial will meet basic standards of due process.
NIAC welcomes the overturning of Varisheh Moradi’s death sentence, and notes its concern regarding the violation of her due process and accusations of torture and prolonged solitary confinement. The Iranian government must move in line with its international rights obligations, including by investigating and ending abuses directed at Moradi and other prisoners and ensuring fair trials. Ending arbitrary imprisonment, safeguarding detainees from torture and abuse, and ensuring meaningful due process are necessary steps toward addressing the broader crisis of repression in Iran.