Iranian environmentalist released from jail: sister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian environmentalist Sam Rajabi has been released after spending nearly six years in prison on charges of spying for the United States, his sister announced on Sunday.

Katy Radjabi said on X that her brother was released. “It is done, Sami is free,” she wrote.

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights also announced Rajabi’s release on X, adding that he had completed his six-year sentence.

Rajabi was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in February 2016 along with several other members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The director of the foundation, Kavous Seyed-Emami, died while under interrogation.

Rajabi was tried in January 2018 on charges of spying for the United States and was handed a jail sentence of six years the following year.

Human Rights Watch called the trials of the environmentalists “unfair” and said the defendants were not allowed to see all of the evidence against them.

Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman and former cellmate of Rajabi in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, expressed his joy about the release of his friend who he said served out “the entire 6 year sentence doled out to him on false charges.”

“Sam, thank you for making all our lives in prison so much better and for taking care of all of us. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being you. Welcome to freedom!” Namazi posted on X.

Namazi was released earlier this year as part of a prisoner swap.