The Iranian court has overturned the death sentence of Kurdish activist Wrisha Moradi, citing major legal and investigative flaws. The Iranian court sent her case back to the Tehran Revolutionary Court for a new trial. Moradi, a women’s rights advocate from Sanandaj in western Iran, faced charges of armed rebellion and alleged membership in the banned Free Life Party of Kurdistan. Security forces arrested her in August 2023, and authorities sentenced her to death in November 2024.
Her lawyer, Mustafa Nili, said the Iranian court annulled the sentence because authorities failed to inform Moradi of the charges that justified the death penalty. This procedural error led the court to order a retrial. After her sentencing, prison officials held Moradi in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin Prison for nearly five months. In February, 229 Iranian lawyers petitioned against her sentence, demanding a fair retrial for political prisoners.
Iran frequently arrests Kurds linked to political activism. Authorities often detain them arbitrarily and limit access to legal representation. The country executed 909 prisoners in 2024, a nine percent increase from the previous year. Human rights observers say Iran disproportionately targets minorities, including Kurds, following the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests.
Experts say the Iranian court’s decision sets a potential precedent for other political prisoners. Analysts also predict increased scrutiny of Iran’s legal system in the coming months. The ruling provides Moradi a temporary reprieve, but her final verdict remains uncertain. Human rights organizations continue to monitor the retrial closely. This development shows a rare judicial reconsideration in Iran and may influence how courts treat political and minority rights activists.