The Language They Tried to Silence: Susan Hassanzadeh and the Cost of Teaching
In a small classroom in Bukan, the sound of poetry once danced in Kurdish. Children recited the names of seasons, of rivers, of stars—words passed down through generations. And at the front of that room stood Susan Hassanzadeh: a teacher, a language keeper, a civil activist.
On December 3, 2024, Susan was arrested and sent to Orumiyeh Prison to serve a three-month sentence.
Her crime? Teaching her language. Preserving her culture.
The charge: “propaganda against the regime.”
But what she taught was memory. Identity. Belonging.
Susan’s sentence was handed down by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court Two in Bukan. Before that, she was violently detained in May 2024 without legal cause, held in a security center in Orumiyeh. She was allowed just one brief phone call. Then—silence.
Released on bail in June, only to be imprisoned again months later.
Her arrest is not isolated.
It is part of a widening effort to erase the cultural rights of Iran’s Kurdish minority, to criminalize the act of remembering. To turn teachers into enemies.
But Susan is not alone.
Every word she spoke, every lesson she gave—those echo far beyond prison walls.
Because language is not a threat. It is a home.
And Susan Hassanzadeh was simply trying to keep the lights on.
What You Can Do:
Donate any amount: Let the world know teaching is not a crime.
Support cultural education: Advocate for the right to language and identity for all minority communities.
Stand against unjust detentions: Use the hashtag #FreeSusanHassanzadeh to raise awareness and pressure change.
Let no language be silenced. Let no teacher be taken for telling the truth.
