Zhina Modares Gorji, a Kurdish journalist and prominent women’s rights activist, was repeatedly summoned and threatened by security agencies before her arrest.

Modares Gorji was first beaten and arrested during the anti-government uprising of Women, Life, Freedom in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, on 21 September 2022.

After spending 40 days at the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj, she was provisionally released on 1 November 2022 on bail of 1 billion Iranian rials (nearly 2,000 USD), which was later increased to 10 billion rials after new charges were brought against her.

She was arrested a second time by security forces on 10 April 2023, and after 84 days was temporarily released from the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj on 3 July 2023 on a hefty bail of 50 billion rials.

Modares Gorji’s first court session was held on 12 February 2023, in Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Akbari, the second session was held on 13 September 2023, in the same court presided over by Judge Saeidi, and the third session was held on 9 April 2024, presided over by Judge Karami.

In May 2024, Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced Modares Gorji to 21 years in prison, including 10 years for “forming an illegal group with the aim of overthrowing the regime”, 10 years for “collaborating with hostile groups and states” and one year for “propaganda against the state”.

According to the verdict, the charges stemmed from her alleged activities, including “establishing the Zhivano Association with a feminist ideology aimed at overthrowing the state”, “participating in gatherings and chanting subversive slogans”, “maintaining contacts with anti-revolutionary elements”, “attending international educational conferences and workshops”, and “publishing materials in cyberspace and giving interviews to foreign media to negatively portray the country and create unrest following the death of Mahsa Amini”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court had based its decision on reports from the Ministry of Intelligence, citing “security risks” in serving her sentence in Sanandaj due to “the possibility of destructive security activities”, and ordered, under Article 513 of the Criminal Procedure Code, that she serve her sentence in Hamadan Prison instead.

According to the law on sentence aggregation, from her cumulative 21-year sentence, only the maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, along with exile to Hamadan, was enforceable. 

Modares Gorji’s lawyers filed a formal appeal, and the case was sent to the Kurdistan Province Appeal Court for review.

The appeal hearing, attended by Modares Gorji and her defence team, took place on 11 September 2024 in Branch Four of the Kurdistan Province Appeals Court. In October 2024, the Appeals Court reduced her 21-year sentence to two years and four months in prison. 

According to the new ruling, she was acquitted of “collaboration with hostile states” but sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the state” and 16 months for “forming an illegal group to overthrow the government”.

Based on the law on sentence aggregation, only the 16-month prison sentence is enforceable.

On 2 November 2024, Modares Gorji turned herself in to the Enforcement of Judgements Office in Sanandaj and was sent to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj.

In April 2024, the Sanandaj Municipality’s police in charge of supervising public facilities and locations also sealed off her bookstore, Zhira, for several days on the pretext of “failing to observe Islamic hijab.”

On 28 May 2024, a group of women activists in Sanandaj met with her to express support and protest her 21-year prison sentence.

On 1 June 2024, several Iranian civil rights and feminist activists issued a statement condemning Modares Gorji’s sentence, calling it an extension of the crackdown on the Women, Life, Freedom anti-government uprising.

On 7 June 2024, a group of civil rights activists from Sanandaj visited her, condemning her 21-year sentence and demanding its revocation.

On 2 November 2024, a group of women activists escorted her to the Sanandaj court for the beginning of her prison term.

Notes:

1. Women, Life, Freedom Uprising: Jina Amini (Mahsa Amini), a 21-year-old Kurdish woman from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, was arrested on a street in Tehran on 13 September 2022 by the morality police because of the way she was dressed. Shortly after her arrest, she was transferred to Kasra Hospital in Tehran with head injuries and symptoms of brain death, and passed away three days later on 16 September 2022. The government’s killing of Jina sparked unprecedented anti-government protests, which began with a large turnout at her funeral at Aichi Cemetery in Saqqez and quickly spread to many cities across Iran. These widespread protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which lasted for several months, resulted in at least 527 protesters being killed and thousands injured and arrested. The protests are known for their central slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” (Kurdish: Jin, Jiyan, Azadi).

2. Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Anyone who, under any pretext or ideology, forms or runs a group, association, or an entity of more than two people, either inside or outside the country, under any name or title, with the aim of disrupting national security, and is not considered a ‘mohareb’ (enemy of God), shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of two to ten years.”

3. Article 508 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Any individual or group who, in any manner, collaborates with hostile foreign states against the Islamic Republic of Iran, provided they are not deemed to be moharebs (enemies of God), shall be sentenced to one to 10 years’ imprisonment.”

4. Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code: “Anyone who engages in propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or in favour of groups and organisations opposing the state, in any manner, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three months to one year.”

5. Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code: “In the case of multiple crimes, only the most severe punishment mentioned in the verdict is enforceable, and the other punishments are not considered unless the most severe punishment is reduced or converted for a legal reason, such as the private plaintiff’s withdrawal of his complaint, the annulment of the legal punishment, or the passage of time, in which case the next most severe punishment will be implemented.”