Iran's Supreme Court rejects retrial of Pakhshan Azizi

The Iranian Supreme Court’s recent ruling has made news across the world.

Pakhshan Azizi, an imprisoned Kurdish humanitarian worker who is scheduled to be executed has had her request for a retrial denied.

Her lawyer, Amir Raesian, took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to share the ruling with social media.

“Our request for a retrial in the case of Ms. #Pakhshan_Azizi was rejected. However, we will submit another request for a retrial to the Supreme Court and, by requesting the application of Article 477, we will ask the Chief Justice to prevent the execution of this ruling,” said Raesian.

Raesian also went on to discuss that his client has denied she ever took up arms and only helped as an aid worker in various refugee camps, helping those affected by ISIS attacks.

While still just allegations, it has also been reported that Azizi was interrogated and tortured at the Ministry of Intelligence where she was forced to make coerced confessions.

She has been imprisoned since August of 2023.

“It is noteworthy that Ms. Azizi was sentenced to prison for membership in the PJAK [Free Life Party of Kurdistan] group and to death for membership in an unspecified rebel group,” Raesian continued.

Along with Raesian, Amnesty International also released a statement, showing their extreme disapproval of the court’s decision.

“The international community must immediately urge the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of arbitrarily detained humanitarian aid worker Pakhshan Azizi, who was sentenced to death following a grossly unfair trial before a Revolutionary Court last year,” said Diana Eltahawy, the Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Amnesty International.

Both the United States and the European Union have also demanded that Iran overturn her execution sentence.

It's a tragedy that somebody would be put to death for trying to help other humans.

President Donald Trump has yet to make a statement on the recent ruling from the Iranian Supreme Court.