Varisheh Moradi, a political prisoner held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, has announced that she is going on a hunger strike to protest the deprivations she has faced and the executions carried out by the Iranian judiciary.
On October 10, news and human rights sources reported that this political prisoner stated she would go on an “indefinite hunger strike” in protest of the increasing number of death sentences and executions in Iran, as well as the uncertainty of her own status and the restrictions imposed on her.
A source close to Varisheh Moradi’s family confirmed to Hrana (a human rights news agency) that she “has started a hunger strike in protest of her continued detention and the uncertainty of her situation, as well as being deprived of visits with her family and lawyer since May of this year, a restriction ordered by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, and the increasing number of death sentences in Iran.”
Varisheh Moradi is imprisoned on the charge of “Baghi” (rebellion) through her membership in a Kurdish opposition group. “Baghi” refers to opposing and fighting against the Islamic ruler, a charge in the Iranian regime uses for those who rise against the regime.
The first court session was held on June 16 in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, with the defendant’s lawyers present. The second session was held on October 5.
Ms. Moradi was arrested by Iranian intelligence agents in the suburbs of Sanandaj on July 31, 2023, and transferred to Tehran. In January 2024, after the completion of her interrogation, she was moved from Ward 209 of Evin Prison to the women’s ward.
The Iranian judiciary has previously sentenced several political and ideological prisoners to death on the charge of “rebellion,” and some have been executed in recent years.
Two other female political prisoners, Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi, are also currently on death row.
