An Iranian journalist arrested during months of protests and a human rights activist and doctor arrested in 2018 have been released, according to media reports.
The “political activist and journalist” Hossein Jasdi was released from Dastgerd prison in Isfahan on Friday, the Iranian newspaper “Shargh” reported on Friday. Activist and doctor Farhad Meysami, arrested in July 2018, was released from prison after serving his sentence.
According to his lawyer, Meysami had been on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest, among other things, the execution of arrested demonstrators. Meysami was arrested when he campaigned for an end to compulsory headscarves in public and was sentenced to five years in prison for “endangering national security”.
The journalist Jasdi, who according to “Shargh” runs the Internet portal Mobin 24 among other things, was arrested in December and later sentenced to a year in prison and a two-year travel ban. “Shargh” did not provide any information on the specific allegations against him.
The protests in Iran were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September after she was arrested by the vice squad. Since then, the Iranian authorities have arrested thousands of people.
On Thursday, media based abroad reported the release of seven prominent activists and journalists from Evin prison in Tehran, including activist Saba Kordafschari, who had been imprisoned since 2019 and had campaigned against the veil for women, and prominent photographer Alieh Motalebsadeh.
It was not clear if the recent releases were related to an announcement by Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He had announced an amnesty that would also apply to people arrested during the protests. (AFP)
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