Kurdish journalist Nazila Maroofian has been released from prison. The 23-year-old was sentenced for interviewing Jina Mahsa Amini's father, and was in Evin prison in Tehran for the second time.
Kurdish journalist Nazila Maroofian has been released after five weeks in Evin prison in Tehran.
The 23-year-old published a picture of herself on the X platform (formerly Twitter), which shows her smiling and showing the victory sign outside the prison. According to human rights groups, the regime released Maroofian after she paid for her bail.
Maroofian has been incarcerated in Evin prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran, since early July. It was the second time in just a few months.
A few days before her arrest, Secret Service officials had searched her home and asked her to speak to the public prosecutor. When she complied with this request on 8 July, she was taken into custody. For a long time it was unclear what the allegations against her were. It is now known that she has to defend herself again against the accusation of "propaganda against the state".
Nazila Maroofian studies at Tehran's Allameh Tabatabai University and currently works for the independent media platform Rouydad 24. She is originally from Seqiz in Eastern Kurdistan, the hometown of Jina Mahsa Amini. The violent death of the 22-year-old in the custody of Iran's moral police last September sparked the "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" revolution - the largest wave of protests the Islamic Republic of Iran has seen since its founding in 1979.
On 19 October, Maroofian published an interview with Amini's father, Amjad, on the website Mostaghel. In it, Amjad Amini rejected the official information that his daughter's death was caused by an illness.
The title of the interview, which was removed shortly after publication, was clear: "Mahsa Amini's father: 'You are lying!'" A few days later, Maroofian was arrested in Tehran and taken to Evin prison for the first time. There she was subjected to threats during interrogations and psychological torture. She was put in an isolation cell and suffered two mild heart attacks right at the beginning of her imprisonment.
Finally, at the end of January, Maroofian was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended to five years' probation, for "propaganda against the regime" and "publishing lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion".
The Revolutionary Court in Tehran also imposed a fine and a five-year ban on leaving the country. At the time, Maroofian had already been released on bail for 600 million toman. In June, just weeks before she was arrested again, she was beaten by "security forces" in Tehran and barred from public service for disobeying the regime's dress code, as she did not wear a hijab.
A week ago, on Saturday, Maroofian was admitted to Tehran's Taleghani Hospital due to shortness of breath and tachycardia. After a few hours, she left the clinic and was taken back to the women's section of Evin prison. It is not known whether her release is related to her health conditions.
