The request for conditional release of Nasrin Hassani, an imprisoned journalist, has been denied. She is currently serving her 19-month sentence in Bojnourd Prison among ordinary inmates, a clear violation of the principle of separating prisoners based on their charges.
The consolidation of two cases against Nasrin Hassani has been delayed, with an unusually prolonged legal process.
Nasrin Hassani, a mother to a teenage son, lost her job due to pressure from security forces. She was the editor-in-chief of the Siyahat Shargh weekly and was arrested by security forces in October 2022 during the nationwide protests in Iran.
On November 11, 2023, Branch 103 of the Criminal Court of Bojnourd sentenced her to seven months in prison for “spreading falsehoods” and fined her one million tomans for “violating Islamic dress codes in public.” In December 2023, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Bojnourd handed down an additional one-year prison sentence for “propaganda activities against the state through publishing photos and videos on social media.” This verdict was later upheld by Branch 2 of the North Khorasan Appeals Court.
On February 4, 2024, Hassani was summoned to Branch 2 of the Criminal Execution Office of the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Bojnourd, where she was detained and transferred to Bojnourd Prison to begin serving her sentence. Her charges stem from alleged falsehoods spread via social media.
Before entering prison, Hassani sent a message to the public, declaring, “I stand firm in my commitment to freedom.”
Ongoing Uncertainty for Political Prisoner Zahra Sharif Kazemi
Political prisoner Zahra Sharif Kazemi, 35, has been held in limbo for over a month in the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
Sharif Kazemi was arrested in Tehran by security forces for her activities on social media. After two days of detention at Shapour Detention Center, she was transferred to Evin Prison’s women’s ward on December 24, 2024.
