Detained Kurdish writer Mozhgan Kavousi was tried on 20 December over a series of serious charges, one of which may carry a death penalty verdict.
The most serious charges against her was “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz), for which a death penalty is a possible verdict under the laws of the the Islamic Republic of Iran.
She is a former political prisoner released in January 2022 after she spent nearly two years in jail.
The other new charges that the Branch One of the Islamic Revolution Court brought against her at the 20 December hearing included “insulting the Supreme Leader”, “spreading lies”, “propaganda against the state”, “inciting people to war and murder with the intent to disrupt national security of the country”, and “collaboration with hostile states”.
At the hearing held in the city of Sari in Mazandaran province, the defendant and her lawyer presented the court with her defence files before the judge decided that a final verdict would be issued in the coming days, without giving a specific date.
She is originally from the town of Nowshahr where she was arrested at her family home on 22 September. She was then taken to pre-trial detention at the Tonekabon Prison after initial interrogation.
