Atena Farddani Released from Prison
Atena Farddani, an Iranian cartoonist who was imprisoned in connection with a cartoon protesting a proposed parliamentary bill that would restrict reproductive rights and women’s rights in Iran, was released from Evin Prison on Tuesday, the 14th of Ordibehesht.
Last week, Mohammad Moghimi, Farddani’s lawyer, announced that his client’s sentence was being reviewed.
According to Farddani’s lawyer, the appeals court reduced her sentence from 9 years and 9 months to 18 months.
The “International Network in Defense of Cartoonists’ Rights” awarded Farddani the Courage Prize in August of last year.
Atena Farddani was arrested in September 2014 and released two months later on bail.
Following her temporary release, she told the Jres website that her interrogations primarily focused on her paintings, her relationship with families of victims of the 2009 protests, and Iranian Bahá’ís.
The cartoonist announced at that time through a released video that she had been subjected to “abuse” in prison.
In December 2014, she reported to Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court and was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin, and after two months was sent to Evin Prison.
