A Revolutionary Court summoned and arrested online journalist Hosseinkhah in Tehran on November 18, according to the Iran-based Web site Change for Equality. The judge charged her with disturbing public opinion, engaging in propaganda against the regime, and spreading false news, Change for Equality reported. Bail was set at one billion rials (US$107,000). Authorities transferred her to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison because she was unable to pay the amount, Change for Equality reported.
Hosseinkhah’s lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, told Change for Equality that her client was jailed because she wrote articles on women’s rights for online sites and newspapers.
Hosseinkhah worked as an editor for the Women’s Cultural Center-affiliated Web site Zanestan and the Change for Equality Web site. Change for Equality seeks to amass one million signatures urging reform of Iranian laws discriminating against women. In November 2007, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ordered the closure of Zanestan, according to Change for Equality.