RÛBARÎN BEKIR

Shahba- Warisha Moradi, a women’s rights defender and a member of the East Kurdistan Free Women Society (KJAR), was arrested by Iranian security forces in Sanandaj on August 1, 2023. She faced an unfair trial. In October 2024, she held a 20-day hunger strike in Evin prison to protest the death penalty in Iran. On November 10, she was sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of “armed rebellion” against the Iranian regime. Women all around the world demand an immediate revocation of the death sentence handed down to her.

The displaced women of Afrin, who live in Shahba say Warisha Moradi was sentenced to death because she defends women’s rights, calling on the Iranian state to immediately revoke the death sentence.

 ‘Women have shaken the authority in Iran’

“Women activists in Iran are strong because they emerge from the womb of pain,” said Arin Bakir, deputy chair of the Women’s Council in Afrin/Shahba Canton of North and East Syria. “The mullahs in Iran try to suppress women’s identity and free will.”

Recalling the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” uprising that sparked in Iran following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Arin Bakir said, “Women took to the streets against the regime that oppresses them. Many women activists have been arrested, tortured and sentenced to death because they have shaken the authority in Iran.”

Arin Bakir condemned the death sentence imposed on Warisha Moradi. “This sentence is an attack against all women, aiming at silencing women and destroying their free will. The ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi uprising is a women’s revolution against the patriarchal mindset that enslaves women. As women, we will keep struggling for our freedom and following in Warisha Moradi’s footsteps.”

‘Women have a strong will’

Nashham Hamo, member of the Young Women’s Union, drew attention to the increase in violence against women all around the world, including Syria. “Women’s rights are violated in the occupied areas. The Turkish state targets pioneering women in North and East Syria. One of the most important goals of capitalist and authoritarian countries is to silence women who fight against their policies. Fascist countries target women to target the entire society because they know that women have a strong will.”

Nashham Hamo stressed that the situation of women in Iran “is not different. Iranian women fight against the patriarchal state and Warisha Moradi plays an important role in this fight.”

‘The death penalty reveals their fear’

Warisha Moradi draws her strength from the “Jin Jiyan Azadî” philosophy, Nashham Hamo emphasized, calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately “revoke the death sentence imposed on Warisha Moradi. Women in Iran deserve to enjoy and defend their rights. The death penalty against women activists reveals their fear. Women embrace the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ slogan echoing in Iran and Rojhilat Kurdistan symbolizes the ideology and philosophy of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. I call on all women to stand against the death penalty in Iran.”

‘The Jin, Jiyan, Azadi philosophy will spread everywhere’

“Women are always subjected to all forms of violence, especially in crises and wars,” said Khaleda Abdo, Co-chair of the Future Syria Party. “Women have a strong will. Warisha Moradi also has a strong will. They refuse the tyranny and hegemony of Iranian fascism and they struggle against them. Women's struggle will prevail against authoritarian regimes. They will not be able to break the strong will of women. The Jin, Jiyan, Azadi philosophy will spread everywhere.”