Golrokh Ebrahimi-Iraee

Age: 46
Activism/rights: Civil activist
Status: Imprisoned in Evin Prison
Judicial status: 5 years' imprisonment
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of fair trial and due process; torture and ill-treatment; denial of access to lawyer; prolonged solitary confinement

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is a prominent activist and writer who was first arrested in 2014 and has been arrested multiple times and spent years behind bars since. In 2014, she was arrested for writing a novel about the stoning of a woman and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “insulting the sanctities”. Following the confirmation of this sentence on 22 December 2015, she was arrested on 24 October 2016 to serve her sentence. After serving three years in prison, Golrokh was released in March 2019 upon completion of her sentence. Six months after her release, Golrokh was rearrested in connection with a new case that had been opened against while she was behind bars. After being transferred to Qarchak Prison, she was beaten with an electric shock device in December 2019, and was forcibly transferred to Ward 2A of the IRGC in Evin Prison. After 43 days of interrogation, she was returned to Qarchak Prison on 24 January 2021, but a few hours later was exiled to Amol Central Prison. Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran subsequently sentenced her to three years and seven months’ imprisonment on charges of “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic” and “propaganda against the system”. Singing a song in protest against the execution of Zanyar and Loghman Moradi (two Kurdish cousins executed on 8 September 2018 on charges of assassinating the son of the Friday prayer leader of Marivan), as well as letters she had sent from prison to human rights organisations, were cited as examples of “propaganda against the system”. In April 2021, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran tried Iraee in absentia in relation to a new case opened against her in Qarchak Prison and sentenced her to one year’s imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the system”, along with a two-year ban on membership in political groups and a ban on leaving the country. Following the consolidation of her sentences and her release from Amol Central Prison on 9 May 2022, she was violently re-arrested five months later, on 26 September 2022, during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

In April 2023, Judge Iman Afshari presiding over Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, sentenced Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee to seven years’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion with intent to commit crimes against national security” and “propaganda against the system”, along with a two-year travel ban, a ban on residing in Tehran, a ban on membership in political parties and the confiscation of her mobile phone. This sentence was later reduced on appeal to five years’ imprisonment, while the additional punishments were upheld. Behind bars, Golrokh has repeatedly been denied family visits and subjected to physical assault. She has been forcibly transferred between different prisons on multiple occasions and has repeatedly gone on hunger strike in protest against the death penalty.

Golrokh was transferred to Qarchak Prison after the Israeli military strike on Evin Prison. She was returned to Evin Prison on 9 October 2025. In April 2026, she was awarded the 2026 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award by PEN America.