An Iranian Kurdish women’s rights activist, Maysoon Majidi, is facing trial in Crotone, Italy, on charges of being a human smuggler after fleeing persecution in Iran and arriving on Italian shores with 77 other migrants on December 31st, 2023. The 28-year-old, who has been involved with Kurdish rights organizations and worked as a film director and theater actress, vehemently denies the accusations leveled against her.
Amnesty International has intervened in Majidi’s case, with the organization’s Italian director, Ileana Bello, writing a letter to the presiding judge, Elisa Marchetto. In the letter, Bello highlighted Majidi’s previous arrest and torture by Iranian authorities during the 2019 protests, stating, “Majidi was arrested for the first time during the 2019 protests, tortured, and then released.” Bello emphasized the double discrimination Majidi faced as a woman and a member of the Kurdish minority in Iran. According to Amnesty International, Majidi fled Iran after facing persecution by the Iranian moral police for her role in organizing protests against the regime. Aware that she would not receive a stay permit and risked deportation to Iran if she remained in Iraqi Kurdistan, Majidi chose to escape via the Ionian route towards Italy.
Bello’s letter shed light on the brutal crackdown on the “Woman Life Freedom” movement in 2022, where Iranian security forces reportedly used rape and other forms of sexual violence to intimidate and punish protesters, including children as young as 12 years old. The letter also alleged complicity by Iranian authorities, including magistrates and judges, in disregarding and concealing reports of rape, as well as using coerced confessions obtained through torture to falsely accuse survivors and sentence them to death. In light of these circumstances, Bello urged the judge to safeguard Majidi’s rights and provide her with necessary medical care.
Amnesty International’s intervention has been accompanied by a chorus of support from human rights organizations and activists worldwide, who have denounced the charges against Majidi and demanded her immediate release. On Friday, the Comitato Free Maysoon (Free Maysoon Committee) organized a sit-in in front of the Crotone court to show solidarity with Majidi and call for her freedom. The case has also drawn attention to the plight of Iranian dissidents and the ongoing crackdown on civil liberties in Iran, with many advocating for Majidi’s case to be treated as a matter of political asylum rather than illegal immigration. As the trial proceeds, international scrutiny remains focused on Italy’s handling of Majidi’s case, with human rights organizations and activists calling for a fair and just resolution that upholds the principles of human rights and protects those fleeing persecution.