CODIR welcomes postponement of execution 

The Committee for the Defence of Iranian People’s Rights (CODIR) has today welcomed news from Iran that, following global protests, the execution of Kurdish care worker, Pakhshan Azizi, has been postponed. 

However, CODIR General Secretary, Gawain Little, made clear that this is not the end of the campaign to free Ms Azizi.

“While we of course welcome the fact that the unjust death sentence handed down to Ms Azizi has been delayed,” he said, “this is by no means the end of the campaign to set her free.  A stay of execution is one thing, abolishing the death sentence and freeing all political prisoners in Iran remains the aim of CODIR and we will continue to make representations on this basis.”

Ms Azizi was sentenced to death in July 2024 for activities relating to assisting displaced women and children in North East Syria.  There is no evidence that Ms Azizi was involved in anything other than humanitarian activity.

Mazyar Tataei, a lawyer, announced on Thursday that the Supreme Court in Iran had agreed to stay the execution of Ms Azizi. Mr Tataei, wrote that, 

“Upon referring to the Supreme Court to pursue Pakhshan Azizi’s request for a retrial, the branch handling the retrial agreed to the request to halt the execution in accordance with Article 478 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”

In protest against the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi and Vrisheh Moradi and the death sentences of other prisoners, a General Strike took place earlier this week in the Kurdish areas of Iran. The call for the strike was announced by six Kurdish political organisations and parties and was supported by a range of national democratic and leftist parties and organisations.

Civil activists supporting the strike action described Ms Azizi as “…a woman who dedicated her entire life to helping her fellow human beings, a social worker who stood among human crises and refugee camps for more than a decade…not just a social worker but a point of hope for thousands of women.”

The Iranian authorities have increased the use of the death penalty following the Women, Life, Freedom Movement  in order to intimidate activists and instil fear in the population, with over 900 people being sentenced to death last year.

Gawain Little stressed CODIR’s commitment to raising the issue of political prisoners in Iran with the wider peace and Labour Movement in Britain.

“We are renewing our call to all affiliates and the wider peace and trade union movement in Britain to call for a halt to the execution of Ms Azizi and all other political prisoners,” he said. “The barbarism of the Iranian regime against its own people is unrelenting.  We will continue to call for it to end and for the Iranian people to be free to determine their own future.” 

CODIR is calling for peace, trade union and human rights organisations in Britain to write to the Iranian Embassy demanding a halt to the execution of Ms Azizi and justice for all political prisoners in Iran.

CODIR is also calling upon MPs to raise the case of Ms Azizi and demand her immediate release along with other political prisoners in Iran.

ENDS

Further information for Editors

Contact Information for CODIR:-

Postal Address:
B.M.CODIR
London
WC1N 3XX
UK
Website: www.codir.net
E-mail: [email protected]

Further information on CODIR

CODIR is the Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights.  It has been established since 1981 and has consistently campaigned to expose human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

CODIR has worked closely with the trade union movement in the UK, the peace movement, all major political parties and Amnesty International to press the case for an end to torture in Iran’s prisons.  Major trade unions in Britain are affiliated to CODIR and support its campaign for peace, human and democratic rights, and social justice in Iran.

CODIR has published Iran Today, its quarterly journal, since 1981, explaining the latest developments in Iran and the most effective way that the British public opinion could demonstrate its solidarity with the people of Iran.

In recent years CODIR has worked closely with Stop the War Coalition and has been vocal against any form of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of the nation.

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Central Executive Council

CODIR