News Flash—Execution Sentence Overturned! @free_sharifeh_mohammadi
In July 2024, a court in Gilan province in northern Iran sentenced to death Sharifeh Mohammadi, a political activist and a member of the Gilak minority in Iran, on the spurious charge of “Baghi”—armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic. This represented “normalizing the process of executing women political prisoners.” (For more on the women in danger of execution and resistance by women political prisoners, see “Persistent Brave Resistance by Women Prisoners in Iran, Calls for Broader Actions and International Solidarity”.)
She had been tortured for months in solitary confinement without any contact with the outside world. Even under these conditions, the court was not able to “prove” any association with armed groups other than her having helped found a non-political labor organizing collective 10 years ago. Her family and supporters worked tirelessly to build support among dozens of labor unions and a wide range of activists inside Iran and worldwide.
In July 2024, a court in Gilan province in northern Iran sentenced to death Sharifeh Mohammadi, a political activist and a member of the Gilak minority in Iran, on the spurious charge of “Baghi”—armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic. This represented “normalizing the process of executing women political prisoners.” (For more on the women in danger of execution and resistance by women political prisoners, see “Persistent Brave Resistance by Women Prisoners in Iran, Calls for Broader Actions and International Solidarity”.)
She had been tortured for months in solitary confinement without any contact with the outside world. Even under these conditions, the court was not able to “prove” any association with armed groups other than her having helped found a non-political labor organizing collective 10 years ago. Her family and supporters worked tirelessly to build support among dozens of labor unions and a wide range of activists inside Iran and worldwide.
The Free Sharifeh campaign announced:
We are pleased to announce that the death sentence against Sharifeh Mohammadi has been overturned by [Iran's] Supreme Court... We emphasize that the overturning of Sharifeh’s death sentence is the result of the support and solidarity of all those who have stood by us and Sharifeh’s family throughout this period. We, the members of the Campaign for the Defense of Sharifeh Mohammadi, extend our heartfelt thanks to Sharifeh’s lawyers, labor unions, teachers’ organizations, student groups, retirees in Iran and around the world, human rights organizations, media outlets, activists from various fields, and all individuals and institutions who have consistently supported us in this struggle. In our view, the reversal of Sharifeh’s death sentence, along with her courage and resistance, is a result of our collective struggle and represents a victory for social movements… We cannot hide our outrage that Sharifeh is still imprisoned. We refuse to be content with the mere overturning of her death sentence. It cannot make us ignore the oppression and torture that has been inflicted on Sharifeh, her child, her mother, her husband, her entire family and us, the members of her campaign. We will not be joyful, until the moment Sharifeh is acquitted of all allegations against her, and she is unconditionally released….
Campaign to Defend Sharifeh Mohammadi
12 October 2024
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EC Organizers’ Message to the Grassroots: Ten Things You Can Do to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners
In response to our last update eblast to our list of Emergency Appeal (EA) signatories, we received two emails. One was short but heartwarming “I support you” and another asked, “When you call on the grassroots to take action, please tell us what you want us to do.” Over the nearly four years of our existence, IEC email blasts are consistently sent to over a thousand people, with anywhere between 400-600+ opening, and various rates of forwarding. Given this, we would like to answer the inquiry addressed to our entire IEC community to take urgent action online and on the ground.
- Promote this campaign and its stellar website that shows just a few of the most prominent signatories out of over 5000 in 50 countries. Continue to ask people to sign the EA (now in 8 languages on our website). Even though some of the particulars are dated, its core message still holds as to dividing lines to free the political prisoners.
- Continue to circulate the timely 8/25 webinar jointly hosted by the IEC and the Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco (UUSF) from our website. The event was inspired by the political prisoners in Iran, especially the women in Iran’s Evin prison, and spotlighted their urgent struggle against the rise of executions taking place in Iran. From different perspectives, there was a spirit of unity in genuine care and support for Iran’s political prisoners, opposing the Islamic Republic’s theocracy, as well as opposing US imperialism's threats against Iran.
- Donate and sustain the IEC via our donate page and ask your colleagues, family and friends. We have received donations of $5 to $500, and it all goes to print flyers, palm cards, banners, posters, and hosting our website (Our small but hugely dedicated volunteer team without deep pockets is unpaid). Contact potential philanthropist individuals or groups who may donate to the IEC based on its unique viewpoint concentrated in its EA and especially its two slogans.
- Organize a gathering, e.g., a vigil, a literature table, a workshop, an art exhibition, or a film screening (with preventative measures against disruptions by monarchists/Zionists where relevant). Partner with progressive groups like the UUSF to screen films on Zoom (invite IEC rep for talk-backs) and to hold vigils or workshops. Contact your local left-leaning theaters to screen films by Iran’s politically persecuted but award-winning filmmakers like Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi.
- Reprint flyers and posters from the IEC website and take to events or protests around US/Israeli genocide in Gaza/Lebanon, and against US/Israel-Iran war escalation. Make use of and spread the materials on our website under the resources, global movement, and prisoners’ news tabs, as well as the homepage. Volunteer to help translate from Farsi to English.
- Take action and let us know actions you or others took to spread the campaign: Send us written reports or photos and videos with captions that tell us who, what, where (e.g., the country or city) and when (important in our fast-paced world) and supportive responses or significant controversy (e.g., over Iran being “axis of resistance” to Western imperialism, or growth of pro-US/Israel sentiments against Iran).
- Follow the IEC on social media and repost the IEC’s messages! Do messages of support and post them on social media to individuals or groups of Iran’s political prisoners (e.g. Evin prison’s leftist women, Narges Mohammadi, Golrakh Iraee, Toomaj Salehi) via social media of their family/supporters. Copy to IEC as well as Amnesty International UK, Germany, San Francisco in the US, or to the Narges Foundation.
- Contact a local church, mosque, synagogue, and atheist social justice groups as well as Amnesty International chapters and ask if they are acting to free Iran’s brave political prisoners who are rebelling against a misogynist theocracy and if not, why not. Engage and enlist them using IEC’s website resources including the webinar and EA.
- Get this campaign, especially the fierce rebellion of Evin’s women prisoners, onto campuses as part of radicalizing the social atmosphere (see IEC suggested list of books and movies under resources on our website), do book reports, write poetry, and organize brown bag lunches or classroom discussions.
- Contact us with your ideas and suggestions — but make sure to include what it is you can do and want to do in taking responsibility to advance this crucial struggle in the interest of humanity. DO NOT waste your time contacting government representatives and/or getting bills passed in the reactionary US Congress, or worse BY sending your appeal with personal info to Islamic Republic or US authorities. It only legitimizes these reactionary regimes and fosters harmful illusions. Instead we need to rely on the power of the people — mobilize the grassroots — in order to change the world in our own interest.
World-renowned Argentine-Chilean-American novelist, playwright, and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman has written:
