Iran
Zara Mohammadi: UN Working Group opinion and current status
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that her detention "is arbitrary and falls within categories I, II, III and V". It recommended her immediate release, compensation and an independent investigation.1
Category ICategory IICategory IIICategory V
Government position
The Government replied late, on 31 August 2022, and the Working Group did not accept the reply as timely. The Government said she was arrested on judicial order, that all legal formalities were completed, denied solitary confinement, and said she confessed to cooperating with armed groups.1
Background
According to the opinion, Ms. Mohammadi, a co-founder of the Nojin Cultural Association that taught Kurdish language and literature, was arrested in Sanandaj on 23 May 2019. On 14 July 2020 she was sentenced to 10 years, reduced on appeal in October 2020 to five years, and at the time of the opinion she was serving the sentence in Sanandaj Central Prison.1
Status now
Released from Sanandaj prison on 10 February 2023, after serving about a year of her five year sentence, per Rudaw and The New Arab. Rudaw reported her saying she had not asked for a pardon. The New Arab reported that the release came days after the Supreme Leader pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners.2,3
As of 12 February 2023.
Sources
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 82/2022 concerning Zara Mohammadi (Islamic Republic of Iran), A/HRC/WGAD/2022/82 (17 November 2022)
- Rudaw, Kurdish language teacher freed from Iranian jail (11 February 2023)
- The New Arab, Kurdish teacher Zara Mohammadi released from jail in Iran following 'activist pardons' (12 February 2023)