Iranian journalist, Shirin Saeedi, who has reported for state-run news outlets Hamshahri, Sarmaye, Tehran Emrooz, and Shahrvand, is serving a five-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison after she was convicted of “assembly and collusion against national security” over her participation in international journalism workshops in South Africa and Lebanon.
Saeedi entered pre-trial detention on December 23, 2023, after she returned from her trip to attend the conferences in September. On May 1, 2024 she was sentenced by Judge Abolqasem Salavati of Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
The Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, reported in May 2024 that Saeedi was abroad rather than imprisoned; the journalist’s supporters believe that this is an attempt to hide her arrest and sentencing.
CPJ was unable to determine the status of her health in prison.
CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York in late 2024 for comment on the case of Saeedi and other imprisoned Iranian journalists but received no response.