A group of civil, human rights, political and media activists from Kurdistan have issued a statement calling for the immediate annulment of the death sentence imposed on Kurdish political prisoner Pakhshan Azizi and a review of her case.

The signatories also demanded review of the cases of other death row prisoners in the country.

The statement, entitled “Respect the Right to Life”, highlighted the widespread concern and anxiety caused by the Supreme Court’s confirmation of Azizi’s death sentence.

The signatories argued that in the midst of the growing social and economic crises facing the country, the issuance and enforcement of such sentences exacerbate public discontent and widen the gap between the government and society.

The full text of the statement, which bears the signatures of over 100 prominent figures, is as follows:

Respect the Right to Life

"Following the confirmation of the death sentence of Ms. Pakhshan Azizi by the Supreme Court, a wave of concern and unrest has swept across society, particularly throughout Kurdistan. Considering the multifaceted challenges and crises that are increasingly affecting the people, society, and the country as a whole, we find the issuance and confirmation of such sentences in these critical times to be incompatible with any rational, customary, legal, or ethical standards. We firmly believe that such rulings will bring nothing but despair, a growing gap between society and the government, and heightened dissatisfaction.

Therefore, we, the undersigned, in light of the deeply concerning and tense atmosphere prevailing in society, urgently call for the immediate suspension of the execution process, a thorough re-investigation of the judicial proceedings and legal case, the annulment of Ms. Pakhshan Azizi’s death sentence, and a similar review for other death row inmates as an essential and unavoidable necessity."

Signatories:

Esmaeil Moftizadeh, Kak Hassan Amini, Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand, Siavash Hayati, Mohsen Razavi, Ashraf Sadegh Vaziri, Ejlal Ghavvami, Hamid Reza Samadi, Jalil Ahangarnezhad, Saeid Najjari (Mamosta Aso), Hashem Hossein-Panahi, Seyyed Hashem Hedayati, Seyyed Abbas Ahmadi, Abdollah Sohrabi, Bagher Piri, Seyyed Hanzaleh Hedayati, Mohsen Shafiei, Raouf Karimi, Shahram Safari, Ghafour Soleimani, Pezhman Habibi, Behrouz Zarei, Hamed Farazi, Sohrab Zanganeh, Leyla Gorgani, Golaleh Ahmad-Panah, Shamzin Zamani, Monireh Khoda-Karami, Mohsen Kavyani, Hossein Dolabi, Ramin Rezaei, Ali Ardalan, Houman Nasseri, Ramin Salehi, Hashem Hesami, Tofigh Shah-Moradi, Saeeid Zaki, Khaled Soleimani-Azar, Rashid Ilkhanizadeh, Saeid Sheikhi, Azad Mokri, Zhila Abbasi, Tayyeb Ahmadi, Masoud Karimi, Majid Sheikhi, Shaho Bahrami, Bahram Vaziri, Arash Sheikhi, Viyan Hosseini, Sasan Jahangiri, Heydar Safari, Masoud Doustan, Mehrdad Nahaei, Mehdi Ranjbar, Mousa Omidi, Sadegh Nasserzadeh, Ayoub Badpa, Kamal Jahan-Namaei, Heydar Ahmadi, Hassan Cheraghi, Ali Rashidi, Sadegh Rahimi, Reza Keykhosravi, Iraj Lamaei, Katayoun Darvishi, Saber Tahaei, Ardeshir Mohammadi, Negin Ebrahimpour, Falah Dadashpour, Khabat Miraki, Shoresh Sedighi, Saro Najmaddini, Tahsin Gholami, Daryoush Kurdistani, Afshin Mardoukhi, Rahmat Ezzat-Panah, Parvaneh Salavati, Hajar Khodadadi, Pari Naderi, Mokhtar Arshadi, Golareh As’adi, Mastoureh Asadi, Faegh Amiri, Maghsoud Dinar, Farhad Bakhtiari, Shahin Ranjbar, Kaveh Morovvati, Jalal Khoda-Moradi, Fereydoun Hatami, Osman Nouri, Shafi Arasteh, Edris Ghaderi, Kaveh Ahangari, Hassan Karimi, Asadollah Kharamanpour, Shahab Lahourpour, Mehdi Rahmani, Farshid Toulabi, Leyla Amiri, Mohammad Sharif Saedi, Mehdi Jafar-Beigi, Jabraeil Esmaeili, Zahed Oliyaei, Rahim Khateri, Saleh Shariati, Kioumars Hassani, Kianoush Ali-Khani, Hesam Seyyedi, Ronak Abtahi, Mahvash Fakhri, Leyla Veysi, Mohammad Sheikh-Ahmadi, Loghman Kamangar, Habibollah Mafakhari, Mansour Saed, and Jabbar Moradi.