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Iran
Narges Mohammadi at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran on June 25, 2007. Photo: Behrouz Mehri / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran released human rights activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi from prison on Wednesday night after a reduction in her jail sentence.
Mohammadi, sentenced to ten years in jail on security and propaganda charges, was released after a cut in her sentence was approved by the relevant court authorities, semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA quoted judiciary official Sadegh Naraki as saying.
The 48-year-old was arrested in May 2015, while she was the spokeswoman for the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. Mohammadi, who received her ten-year sentence in 2016, was most recently held at a prison in Zanjan, northwestern Iran.
News of her release was met with relief by Iranian and international human rights groups.
"Our friend, Iranian journalist and human rights defender #NargesMohammadi, was released from prison last night after her sentence was reduced. This is an enormous relief for us," press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Twitter.
Other human rights used Mohammadi's release to call for other Iranian political prisoners to be freed.
"So happy to hear that prominent human rights defender, Narges Mohamadi, was released from prison...Iranian authorities should release other human rights defenders, activists and wrongfully detained dual nationals," said Tara Sepheri Far, Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch.
A group of UN-appointed experts urged in July for the release of Mohammadi, who suffers from a pre-existing lung condition, when she began showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
Iran has granted around 100,000 prisoners furlough since March, when the country was experiencing a deadly first wave of coronavirus cases. However, prisoners of conscience like Mohammadi were not included in the scheme.
With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of relent, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Tuesday for human rights defenders, lawyers and political prisoners to be released from Iran's overcrowded prisons.
"I call for the unconditional release of human rights defenders, lawyers, political prisoners, peaceful protesters and all other individuals deprived of their liberty for expressing their views or otherwise exercising their rights," High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said. "It is particularly important to rectify such injustices at a time when COVID-19 is coursing through Iran's prisons."
On Thursday, Iran saw its highest ever single-day case total since the outbreak began, with 4,392 cases recorded in 24 hours according to national health ministry figures.
Close to half a million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Iran since the pandemic began, according to official figures, including almost 28,000 deaths.
Mohammadi, sentenced to ten years in jail on security and propaganda charges, was released after a cut in her sentence was approved by the relevant court authorities, semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA quoted judiciary official Sadegh Naraki as saying.
The 48-year-old was arrested in May 2015, while she was the spokeswoman for the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. Mohammadi, who received her ten-year sentence in 2016, was most recently held at a prison in Zanjan, northwestern Iran.
News of her release was met with relief by Iranian and international human rights groups.
"Our friend, Iranian journalist and human rights defender #NargesMohammadi, was released from prison last night after her sentence was reduced. This is an enormous relief for us," press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Twitter.
Other human rights used Mohammadi's release to call for other Iranian political prisoners to be freed.
"So happy to hear that prominent human rights defender, Narges Mohamadi, was released from prison...Iranian authorities should release other human rights defenders, activists and wrongfully detained dual nationals," said Tara Sepheri Far, Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch.
A group of UN-appointed experts urged in July for the release of Mohammadi, who suffers from a pre-existing lung condition, when she began showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
Iran has granted around 100,000 prisoners furlough since March, when the country was experiencing a deadly first wave of coronavirus cases. However, prisoners of conscience like Mohammadi were not included in the scheme.
With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of relent, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Tuesday for human rights defenders, lawyers and political prisoners to be released from Iran's overcrowded prisons.
"I call for the unconditional release of human rights defenders, lawyers, political prisoners, peaceful protesters and all other individuals deprived of their liberty for expressing their views or otherwise exercising their rights," High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said. "It is particularly important to rectify such injustices at a time when COVID-19 is coursing through Iran's prisons."
On Thursday, Iran saw its highest ever single-day case total since the outbreak began, with 4,392 cases recorded in 24 hours according to national health ministry figures.
Close to half a million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Iran since the pandemic began, according to official figures, including almost 28,000 deaths.
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