Sharifeh Mohammadi's death sentence condemned by prisoners and Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch and political prisoners condemned the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi.

Human Rights Watch and four political prisoners condemned the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi in separate letters from Evin Prison. Referring to the convictions of Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, Zina Modarresi-Gorji, and women’s rights activists in Gilan, Human Rights Watch said: “Iranian authorities are increasingly suppressing women, religious, and ethnic minorities.”

Human Rights Watch also wrote in a statement today (July 18): “The Iranian Revolutionary Court has sentenced labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi to death on charges of “rebellion” for allegedly being a member of an opposition group (Komaleh), even though she had been a member of labor organizations until 2013.”

In addition to Human Rights Watch, Issa Cholandim and Jamshid Azizi from Lakan Prison in Rasht, and Nahid Khodajo and Nasrin Javadi, political prisoners imprisoned in Evin Prison, wrote separate letters condemning the death sentence against Sharifeh Mohammadi. The letter from political prisoners Issa and Jamshid states: “Once again, the Islamic Republic is looking for the necks of the brave youth of this land to hang its noose, to hand over the rainbow of life to its illegitimacy.”

In her letter, Nahid Khodajoo also pointed out that Sharifeh Mohammadi was sentenced to death by the non-independent judiciary on the pretext of her membership in the Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations, under the title of being affiliated with Komala, and emphasized that such case-making over the past 46 years has been one of the governments' repeated scenarios to suppress labor activists and attribute them to political movements and parties in order to justify such serious and unbelievable accusations.

Nahid Khodajo also wrote to the judicial authorities: "You should know that society has reached such a level of awareness that it does not accept and condemns the death penalty, not only for political charges, but under no circumstances and for any human being."

Nahid Naqshbandi, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, also said about the death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi: "Iranian authorities not only relentlessly target women activists, but also inflict further repression and attacks on women from ethnic and religious minorities. If the new president, Pezizian, wants to show that he represents real change, he must start by stopping this ongoing repression, including death sentences."