News Center- In episode 105 of the Bestory podcast, political activist Motahareh Gonay shares her harrowing experience inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, shedding light on the extraordinary human role played by Bakhshan Azizi, a fellow inmate sentenced to death, who offered comfort and solidarity to women prisoners enduring harsh conditions.

Despite the crushing pressure faced by death-row prisoners like Azizi, Gonay emphasizes how the spirit of solidarity often triumphs over despair, showing that support can bring a fragile glimmer of hope even in the darkest places.

A former dental student in Tehran, Gonay recalls what she describes as “the most tragic day of my life”: a Friday night when she received an official notice barring her from continuing her studies. She remembers her shock at the timing—“illogical, inhumane, and beyond words.” The decision, stamped with the signatures of the minister, the disciplinary council’s chairman, and the secretary general of the Ministry of Health, was final and irreversible. “From that moment,” she reflects, “everything changed—my speech, my steps.”

When Gonay was summoned for release procedures, it was Bakhshan Azizi—despite her own impending death sentence—who reached out to console her. “She came forward, held my hand, and spoke to me,” Gonay recalls. “At that moment I realized the immensity of human suffering, and that we must share it with one another—each according to their strength.”

Azizi, who rejects the spotlight, often insists, “I am just one among hundreds sentenced to death.” Yet, she consistently offered comfort to others, embodying rare compassion in the face of relentless cruelty. For Gonay, her presence carried a profound lesson: “What I learned from her is that suffering, no matter how prolonged, does not mean isolation. We must stand together, carrying fragments of each other’s pain.”