Conditional Release of Soha Mortazai, Student Activist, After 22 Months in Prison

The National Student Guild Council announced the conditional release of Soha Mortazai, a student activist and former secretary of the Student Guild Council of the University of Tehran, after spending 22 months in Evin Prison. According to the report, she was released on Wednesday, June 13. Ms. Mortazai, the former secretary of the Student Guild Council of the University of Tehran, was sentenced to six years in prison in Bahman 1399 (February 2021) for participating in protest gatherings, accused of 'gathering and colluding with the intent to act against national security.' Her case was reviewed in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Salavati, and according to Mustafa Nili, Ms. Mortazai's lawyer, her charges included 'sit-ins at the University of Tehran in protest against being star-marked, the protests of last November at the University of Tehran, and activities in the university's guild council.' After ranking 10th in the doctoral entrance exam for political science, she was prevented from continuing her studies under the pretext of 'deficiencies in her file,' and her name was added to the list of star-marked students who have been deprived of education. The six-year prison sentence for Soha Mortazai was confirmed. In October 2019, during a protest sit-in, she stated that she was star-marked due to 'file fabrication by the security of the University of Tehran and the Ministry of Intelligence.' She was arrested a few weeks after this sit-in on November 26 and was released on bail after 66 days. Soha Mortazai had previously been sentenced to one year in prison in a case related to the protests of December 2017. In November 2022, she was severely beaten and arrested by intelligence agents while going to work. After her arrest and transfer to Evin Prison, it was announced that this arrest was made to enforce her sentence, and her enforceable sentence was stated to be three years and eight months.