Sentenced to Death

It’s easy to be an idiot online, spouting lies when there are no consequences. These brave Iranian women face torture and death for speaking the truth.

I have been writing as much as I can about the courageous Iranian women who stand up and speak out against oppression and are tortured and killed because of it. It infuriates me as well as breaks my heart that keffiyeh-wearing women in the West prefer to support the abusers rather than the abused. It is beyond my comprehension. I cannot even imagine the pain and discouragement it must cause to these brave activists who continue to fight, no matter what obstacles come their way.

With that in mind, here is an update on some of these women.

According to Iran Insight, Iranian authorities have accused four women of "armed rebellion", a sentence carrying the death penalty, as the country's execution spree continues.

The four women have been identified as Pakhshan Azizi, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Varisheh Moradi, and Nasim Gholami Simiyari.

Rights groups, activists, and Evin Prison inmates have condemned the authorities' actions, sparking widespread protests on social media and from human rights organizations against the Islamic Republic's harsh treatment of female activists.

Here is a closer look at these remarkable women.

Nasim Gholami Simiyari: Continued Uncertainty in Evin Prison After 400 Days

Nasim Gholami Simiyari is currently detained at Tehran’s Evin prison. She was arrested on May 18, 2023, by IRGC intelligence agents in Tehran. Initially held in solitary confinement in Ward 1A, she was interrogated before being moved to the notorious Ward 2A and finally to the women's ward of Evin Prison on September 26, 2023.

US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) citing Gholami Simiyari’s friend, reported that she endured psychological and physical torture, resulting in forced confessions recorded on camera under duress.

Iran HRM reports Simiyari has been sentenced to six years in prison, 74 lashes, and 20 years of internal exile in Angouran, Zanjan Province. The court emphasized that her exile should be carried out in isolation from any form of social interaction.

Kurdish Woman Activist Sentenced to Death: Pakhshan Azizi

In July 2024, Azizi was sentenced to death solely in relation to her peaceful humanitarian and human rights activities, including assisting displaced women and children in north-east Syria. Azizi’s reports of torture and mistreatment in detention have not been investigated. Azizi belongs to Iran’s oppressed Kurdish ethnic minority, making her case even more urgent.

Iran Sentences Labor Activist Sharifeh Mohammadi To Death Amid Rights Groups' Outcry

Labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in the northern city of Rasht, rights groups told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on July 4, a move her supporters have labeled "medieval and criminal."

The court said she had been convicted on charges of "armed rebellion against the state" and included as evidence her membership in an independent labor organization.

The Campaign for the Defense of Sharifeh Mohammadi described the labor organization -- the Coordination Committee for Helping to Establish Labor Organizations -- as legal but said that, in any case, she had not been a member for 10 years.

The Hengaw rights watchdog said Mohammadi "endured mental and physical torture at the hands of Iranian Intelligence interrogators...who sought to extract a forced confession from her."

Iran Sentences Kurdish Women's Rights Activist Varisheh Moradi to Death

Varisheh Moradi

A Revolutionary Court in Iran has sentenced Varisheh Moradi, a Kurdish women's rights activist, to death on charges of "armed rebellion."

The court cited Moradi's alleged affiliation with the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) as grounds for the sentence.

Throughout the proceedings, Moradi’s legal team faced extensive restrictions. Her lawyers were denied access to her case file during the final hearing on October 6 and in previous sessions. Moradi herself was not allowed to present a defense in court.

In protest of the death sentence, Moradi initiated a 20-day hunger strike beginning October 10, coinciding with the World Day Against the Death Penalty. 

According to the Hengaw human rights organization, Moradi endured severe torture at the Sanandaj Intelligence Department's detention center, including an incident where she reportedly vomited blood and lost consciousness.

Please don't forget Ahoo Dariyaei who removed her clothes to protest against treatment of her by morality police in Iran.

The photo above is of Ahoo, sent by her family to Iranian activist Masih Alinejad.

I wrote about her in Cardi B vs Ahou Daryaei. She is a 30-year-old Iranian doctoral student in French literature at Tehran's Islamic Azad University.

She has been branded mentally ill and transferred to a psychiatric hospital where, according to Amir Kabir, she “attempted to escape from the quarantine ward at least once but was blocked by security forces.”Her family continues to face immense pressure. This injustice is not only a violation of human rights but also a clear example of the brutality of a regime that thrives on suppression and fear.

When I posted a reminder about Ahoo on Substack Notes, this fellow replied:

So you’re saying you’re against multiculturalism… every country must conform to western cultural norms whether or not they want to. Have I got that right?

You’re funny. Your piece is flat-out western imperialism. I point that out and it’s not worthy of a response. But you pretend to multiculturalism. Until what? Until it hits close to home?

This is an example of the complete disconnect between Western social media warriors who sit safely in their homes and spew out ignorance, refusing to listen to the people from the actual countries they claim to know so much about.

Here is part of my response:

I am not sure how you call repeating what Iranians are saying for themselves “flat-out western imperialism”. This has nothing to do with me and my beliefs. It is about giving a voice to those who would have no voice otherwise.

In case you still don’t get it, it is the Iranian family of Ahoo Dariyaei in Iran that asked Iranian American human rights activist Masih Alinejad to please spread the word in the West. Should she not have done that? Should I, in turn, have not done what they asked? Is that what you call capitulating to western imperialism.

Perhaps you should listen to what these Iranians are saying instead of treating them with such disdain. I wonder, if Dariyaei’s family was standing in front of you and looked in your eyes, would you be able to meet their gaze or would you look down in shame? What would you suggest they do? I would genuinely like to know.

It is because of attention in the West that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence was overturned. Should people have remained silent? He would be dead now.

German parliamentarian Ye-One Rhie, acting as Salehi's "political guardian" in Europe, denounced the death sentence as "absurd and inhumane," expressing disbelief about how the verdict could have been rendered. Rhie criticized the Iranian legal system's chaotic and arbitrary nature, questioning the presence of juridical logic in it.

Will you now give Ye-One Rhie the lecture you gave me? You will look like the fool you are.

I suppose in your mind, any protest against such a regime is capitulation to “western imperialism” and therefore the Iranian regime is fully justified in brutally stopping protests by any means necessary.

If you don’t know who Masih Alinejad is, “the woman whose hair frightens Iran”, let me tell you!

According to her bio:

Masih Alinjead is an Iranian-American journalist, women's rights activist and author of best-selling memoir, The Wind in My Hair. She has been one of the leading figures critical of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The New York Times has described Masih Alinejad, as "The woman whose hair frightens Iran." In July 2022, the law enforcement agents arrested a member of an East European criminal gang armed with an AK47 outside her house. That arrest came a year after the FBI foiled a plot by Iranian intelligence agents to kidnap Alinejad from Brooklyn and take her to Venezuela and onward to Iran.

Born and raised in northern Iran, Alinejad started her professional career as a parliamentary journalist in Tehran, where she often got into trouble for her articles on corruption and malfeasance among the lawmakers. In 2009, she was forced to leave Iran after the crackdown on the protests against the disputed presidential elections.

In 2014, Alinejad founded the My Stealthy Freedom/White Wednesday campaign against compulsory hijab, which is the largest civil disobedience campaign in the history of Islamic Republic.

Alinejad’s life is in constant danger, and she cannot go anywhere without bodyguards. Another plot to assassinate her was just uncovered. The hitman, Farjad Shakeri, was also under orders to kill Donald Trump, the president-elect.

Alinejad is one of many brave Iranian women who choose to speak for those back in their home country living under harsh Sharia law who cannot speak for themselves.

I do wish all the foolish Western protestors would have to stand face to face with these women. I wonder if they would dare to tell them that they are “western imperialists”. I would hope their eyes would be cast down in shame. It’s easy to be an idiot online, spouting lies when there are no consequences. These women face torture and death for speaking the truth.

We should be humbled by these women and forever thankful for the freedoms that we still have. We should be inspired to do all we can to fight for our freedoms and never let them go. We should pray to have their courage if the day comes when we face torture and death for standing up for the truth.

God bless you all my dear readers and keep us strong and free!