17 December 2025 :
December 10, 2025 - IRAN. Death sentence of political prisoner Varisheh Moradi (also Verisheh Moradi) overturned
Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of a prominent Kurdish leftist leader, citing “deficiencies” in the original ruling.
Verisheh Moradi, a prominent Kurdish leftist leader and a member of the Community of Free Women of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR) who previously fought against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, has been on death row in Iran since November 2024 over her support for the Mahsa Amini protests.
The state accused her of “armed rebellion” for backing the protests, which broke out after the death of a Kurdish woman arrested in Tehran for “inappropriate hijab”.
Moradi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said in a post on X that after reviewing the case, the Supreme Court annulled the verdict “due to deficiencies in the investigation and failure to observe legal formalities (failure to inform of the charge forming the basis for issuing the death sentence during the proceedings)”.
“The verdict issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court was annulled, and the case was referred back to that branch for further proceedings,” wrote Nili.
Moradi, originally from Sanandaj province, was first arrested in August 2023 on accusations that included alleged membership of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Iranian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
In 2014, she was wounded while fighting to defend the Kurdish-majority town of Ain al-Arab, or Kobane, in Syria from an attack by IS.
In June this year, she was among the signatories of a letter from prison condemning Israel’s war on Iran. The letter criticised those suggesting the country’s opposition could overthrow the Islamic Republic while Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
In November 2024, Ms. Moradi had been sentenced to death on the charge of baghi (armed rebellion) by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati. In October 2024, in a separate joint case opened against her and four other prisoners inside the prison, Ms. Moradi was sentenced by Branch Two of the Qods Judicial Complex in Tehran to six months’ discretionary imprisonment. In that case, she faced charges of assaulting an officer and disobedience. The case stemmed from an incident on August 6, when Evin women’s ward prisoners protested after learning of the execution of Reza Rasaei, leading to confrontations with prison guards. Varisheh Moradi was arrested in August 2023 by security forces in the outskirts of Sanandaj. She was eventually transferred on December 26 of that year from The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility, known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison, after the completion of interrogation, to the women’s ward of the same prison.
According to Iranian rights groups, Moradi spent nearly 5 months in solitary confinement while being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.
Speaking to Middle East Eye earlier this year, Deniz Derya, a member of KJAR’s coordination council, said Moradi had been suffering from serious health issues, including a “cervical disc rupture and spinal canal stenosis”.
She also highlighted the deteriorating conditions facing another comrade, Zeynab Jalalian, who had also endured “years of severe torture” since she was first arrested in 2008.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-overturns-death-sentence-kurdish-leftist-leader-verisheh-moradi
https://www.en-hrana.org/death-sentence-of-varisheh-moradi-overturned/
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2025/12/article-55
