The Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence handed down to Kurdish political prisoner Verisheh (Wirishe) Moradi, ruling that her case contained serious investigative flaws.
On 10 December, Moradi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed the ruling after attending the Supreme Court, writing on his X account: “Following the review of Ms Verisheh Moradi’s appeal by the Supreme Court, the verdict issued by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran has been overturned due to flaws in the investigation and non-observance of legal procedures (failure to inform her of the charges forming the basis of the death sentence during the proceedings), and the case has been returned to the same branch for reconsideration.”
Moradi, a member of the East Kurdistan Free Women Society (KJAR) from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence on 1 August 2023 at the entrance to Sanandaj upon her return from Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, where she had been involved in political and organisational activities.
She spent the first 13 days of her detention in the detention centre of this security institution in Sanandaj, and afterwards was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran.
During this period, she was subjected to pressure and threats to make forced confessions, and on 26 December 2023, after five months of solitary confinement, she was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
On 10 October, coinciding with the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Moradi went on a 20-day hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison to protest the issuing and execution of death sentences by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
She was briefly taken to an external medical facility after the strike due to gastrointestinal complications but was returned to prison the next day.
The initial verdict, handed down by Judge Abolghassem Salavati, followed two court hearings on 16 June and 5 October, and the death sentence was formally notified to Moradi’s lawyers on 10 November.
During the court hearings, Moradi was denied the right to defend herself, and the judge barred her lawyers from presenting a defence.
Additionally, the lawyers, who had previously been prevented from reviewing the case file, were only allowed a few hours to review the case after the second hearing.
The ruling was handed down despite the initial indictment requesting charges under Article 288 of the Islamic Penal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. Instead, in an illegal ruling, Judge Salavati sentenced her to death under Article 287.
Additionally, in October 2024, Moradi and several other female political prisoners in Evin’s women’s ward were sentenced to six months in prison by the Second Criminal Court of the Qods Judicial Complex in Tehran, presided over by Judge Abolfazl Ameri, on charges of “disturbing prison order”.
