For the second consecutive time, Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected the retrial request of Pakhshan Azizi, a political prisoner sentenced to death. This decision has once again raised concerns over the judicial handling of political cases in Iran.
According to Kolbarews, Maziyar Tataei, one of Pakhshan Azizi’s defense lawyers, announced the news and emphasized that the reviewing branch dismissed the defense team’s arguments as “unsubstantiated” without reviewing the main case file, basing its decision solely on its own assessment, and refused to authorize a case review.
Previously, in February of last year, the Ninth Branch of the Supreme Court had rejected Azizi’s first retrial request. At that time, Amir Raeesian, another lawyer on the case, had reported the decision, stating that despite the rejection, the Supreme Court had agreed to suspend the execution of the death sentence based on a note in Article 478 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
With the second rejection of the retrial request, Pakhshan Azizi’s fate remains uncertain, and fears of her imminent execution have intensified.
