Negar Masoudi

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Security forces arrested Tehran-based photographer and documentary filmmaker Negar Masoudi in October 2020, after she shared a preview of an upcoming film she produced. She is being held in an undisclosed location.

Masoudi works as a photographer for Bokhara Magazine, a local arts and culture magazine, and as a freelance contributor to news agencies and organizations including the Iranian Telecommunication Ministry, according to her profile on the crowdfunding website Hamijoo. 

On October 29, 2020, security forces raided Masoudi’s parents’ home, where she also lives, arrested her, and transferred her to an undisclosed location, according to reports by the exile-run Human Rights Activists News Agency and IranWire news websites.

Those reports said that security forces ransacked the home and seized personal items, but did not specify what objects were taken. The agents did not disclose any charges or allegations against Masoudi during the raid, according to those reports.

The raid took place after Masoudi shared a trailer on October 4 for her upcoming documentary “Wet Weapon” on her Instagram page, where she has more than 10,000 followers. The preview advertised a film documenting acid attacks on women who refused to cover their hair, in defiance of proclamations from local religious leaders.

In 2018, Masoudi held a photo exhibition in Tehran featuring photos of Marzieh Ebrahimi, a victim of a 2014 acid attack.

CPJ emailed Alireza Miryousefi, the head of the media office at Iran’s Mission to the United Nations, in November 2020 for comment on Masoudi’s case, but did not receive any response.