Kurdish political prisoner Verisheh Moradi (Wirishe Moradi) has been indefinitely deprived of telephone contact and family visits by order of Judge Abolqasem Salavati after refusing to appear before Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the order was issued several days after Moradi declined to attend a court session, and that Judge Salavati responded by imposing an indefinite ban on her telephone calls and family visits.
She has previously faced similar restrictions on several occasions, including as punishment for supporting the “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” campaign opposing the use of the death penalty in Iran.
Background
Moradi, a member of the East Kurdistan Free Women Society (KJAR) from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, was arrested on 1 August 2023 at the entrance to Sanandaj while returning from Kermanshah after Ministry of Intelligence forces opened fire and used violence during her arrest.
After 13 days in detention in Sanandaj, she was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, where she was subjected to pressure and torture to obtain forced confessions.
She spent five months in solitary confinement before being transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison on 26 December 2023.
On 10 October 2024, marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Moradi began a 20-day hunger strike in protest against the issuance and execution of death sentences by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
After ending the strike, she was hospitalised for one night at a medical facility outside the prison because of digestive complications before being returned to prison.
Hearings in her case were held on 16 June and 5 October 2024 before Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, and her death sentence was formally notified to her lawyers on 10 November 2024.
During the proceedings, Moradi was denied the right to an effective defence, while her lawyers were not allowed to present arguments before the court.
The death sentence was imposed despite the initial indictment requesting the application of Article 288 of the Islamic Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
Judge Salavati instead sentenced her to death under Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code in a process that departed from the original indictment.
In December 2025, her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, announced that the Supreme Court had overturned the death sentence because of deficiencies in the investigation and failures to comply with legal procedures, including the failure to notify Moradi of the charge that ultimately formed the basis of the death sentence. The case was referred back to Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran for retrial.
Separately, in October 2024, Moradi and several other women political prisoners held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by Branch Two of Criminal Court Two at the Qods Judicial Complex in Tehran, presided over by Judge Abolfazl Ameri, on charges of “disrupting prison order”.
