Eight months after the start of the 16-month prison sentence of Gina Modarres Gorji, this Kurdish political prisoner is still being held in the women's ward of the Sanandaj Correctional Center and has only been sent on leave once during this time.

 

Eight months after the start of the 16-month prison sentence of #Gina_Modarres_Gorji, this #Kurdish political prisoner is still being held in the women's ward of the #Sanandaj Correctional Center and has only been sent on leave once during this time.

She has previously spent a total of four months in detention and prison during two arrests in September 2022 and April 2023.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the Sanandaj Women's Prison, which is located in the city's correctional center, lacks a special ward for political prisoners and facilities such as a workshop, sports club, and rehabilitation programs. Women prisoners in this prison face serious restrictions on phone calls and outdoor time. About 50 female prisoners are held in this prison.

Meanwhile, female political prisoners face more restrictions and controls than other prisoners. Among these pressures are the wiretapping of their telephone conversations and the banning of some officially licensed books on political and social issues.

Currently, Zina Modarres Gorji, a journalist and women's rights activist, and Sarveh Pourmohammadi, a Kurdish language teacher and member of the board of directors of the "Nozhin" cultural-social association, are among the political prisoners imprisoned in Sanandaj Women's Prison.

On November 12, 1403, Zina Modarres Gorji presented herself to the Sanandaj Judicial Execution Office to serve her 16-month prison sentence and was escorted to prison by a group of Sanandaj civil activists who had gathered in front of the court.

That morning, she wrote in a note on her Instagram account: "Today I am going to a prison where marginalization and discrimination are multiplied by three. Sanandaj Women's Prison. Marginality and discrimination of gender, class, and nationality. However, when I was packing my things for prison, I put hope in my suitcase before anything else. I will go there with my hope.”

After a month of imprisonment, Gina Modarres Gorji was tried again in the Sanandaj Criminal Court in December 2024, this time on charges of “spreading lies.” However, the court ultimately determined that the charges were the same as those for which she had previously been tried and sentenced to prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. As a result, the case was closed.