Kurdish journalist and activist Gorji sentenced to 21 years in prison in Iran

Lina PortmanMay 27, 2024

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New blow to women's rights in Iran: Kurdish journalist and human rights activist Jina Modarres Gorji was sentenced to 21 years in prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Court of Sine (Sanandaj). The France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said Modarres Gorji was arrested in September 2022, shortly after the start of protests sparked by the death of young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini.

According to KHRN, Jina Modarres Gorji was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “forming an illegal group with the aim of overthrowing the regime”, one year in prison for “hostile propaganda against the state” and an additional 10 years to “collaborate with hostile groups and countries.

Knowing that according to Iranian law, if you are sentenced to several prison terms, only the longest sentence must be served, the women's rights activist's sentence behind bars will effectively be ten years if the sentence handed down on May 23, 2024 becomes final. Modarres Gorji should then serve his sentence in Hemedan (Hamadan).

The list of charges against Jina Modarres Gorji is long. This includes, among other things, the creation of the “Zhivano” association, of which she is the initiator. The organization, based in Sine, campaigns for women's rights and to place feminist perspectives at the center of struggles for political, environmental and social change. This association is a thorn in the side of the fascist and patriarchal Iranian regime. The judgment states that the organization was designed to overthrow the regime and that “feminist ideology” was the central driving force behind this goal.

The verdict also included allegations against Modarres Gorji, such as participating in illegal meetings, using allegedly illegal slogans and “communicating with anti-revolutionary elements, participating in international conferences and workshops, publishing content on social networks and conducting interviews with foreign media. “to paint a negative picture of the situation in the country and create tensions in society in the sensitive period following the death of Jina Amini.”

The journalist's defense has already appealed the verdict, which will have to be ruled by the Sanandaj Court of Appeal.

Long-time activist in the Kurdish women's movement

The journalist and activist of the Kurdish women's movement Jina Modarres Gorji, known beyond Rojhilat, was arrested for the first time by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in Sine on September 21, 2022. She had participated in demonstrations of the “Jin Jiyan” movement. Azadî”, which were triggered by the violent death of Jina Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old man from Seqiz was arrested by Tehran's morality police for allegedly violating “dress rules” and was mistreated to death at a police station. After the Kurdish woman's feminicide, protests broke out across the country.

Bookstore closed for violation of “headscarf law”

After spending 40 days in the women's section of Sine Central Prison, Jina Modarres Gorji was released on bail. She was arrested again in April last year; Regime secret service agents abducted her from the street on her way to her apartment. After about four weeks in solitary confinement, she was placed in a shared cell, also at Sine Prison. She was released in July after posting bail again. Since then, she has been under constant surveillance by state security authorities. A few weeks ago, she had to close her “Jira” bookstore in Sine for several days. The authorities accused her of violating the requirement to wear a headscarf.