Pajooh was arrested in mid-August, according to the Iran Human Rights Center. On September 7, she contacted her family to tell them she was being held at Evin Prison in Tehran, the organization reported.
Pajooh worked for reformist news outlets such as Etemad e Melli and the Iranian Labor News Agency, and for the Persian service of Radio France Internationale (RFI) and Spain’s El País. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a local watchdog, reported on October 12 that the journalist had been under constant interrogation for weeks. RFI reported that she was charged with “propagating against the regime” and had been pressured to make a false confession.