On October 12, 2024, Iran's Supreme Court ordered a retrial for human rights activist Sharifeh Mohammadi and annulled her death sentence. Mohammadi had been accused of being a member of the Kurdish separatist group Kamala, which the Iranian regime classifies as a terrorist organization.
Her lawyer, Amir Raisian, announced the decision, highlighting the ongoing tensions surrounding Kurdish groups in Iran. Mohammadi was sentenced to death in July after her arrest in Gilan, northern Iran. The Iranian government has long accused exiled Kurdish groups of inciting instability within the country.
International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned the Iranian judicial process, labeling it as grossly unfair. They noted that Mohammadi had been an advocate for women's and workers' rights and had previously opposed the death penalty. Her case has drawn attention amid a backdrop of protests in Iran that erupted following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022.
According to Amnesty International, Iran ranks second in the world for the highest number of executions annually, following China. Human rights advocates have raised concerns about the disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities, particularly Kurds and Baloch people, in capital punishment cases.
Reports indicate that at least 811 people were executed in Iran between October 10, 2023, and October 8, 2024. Protests against the death penalty have persisted in more than twenty Iranian prisons, including hunger strikes by inmates.