Zeynab Jalalian
Zeynab Jalalian was born on 6 June 1982 in the border village of Dim Qeshlaq in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province.
She was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence at the entrance to Kermanshah on 26 February 2008.
She was held in solitary confinement for over three months, subjected to severe torture and even threatened with rape.
During this time, she was denied contact with her family and access to a lawyer. Her family was unaware of her arrest for almost two months.
In a trial held on 3 December 2008, without her lawyer present, she was sentenced to death by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Kermanshah, presided over by Judge Ali Moradi, on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for being a member of the PJAK.
According to Jalalian’s lawyers, at all stages of her interrogation she consistently denied any involvement in armed confrontation against the Islamic Republic, stating that her activities were political and in line with the programmes of the women’s branch of PJAK.
In October 2011, Jalalian’s sentence was commuted from execution to life imprisonment.