Hana: On Monday, September 22, 2025, Zhina Modares Gorji, a Kurdish journalist, women’s rights activist, and former detainee of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, was released from Sanandaj Central Prison after serving her sentence.
According to received reports, Ms. Modares Gorji had initially been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mohammad Karami, to 10 years in prison for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the state,” 10 years for “collaboration with hostile groups and governments,” one year for “propaganda against the state,” and exile to Alvand Prison in Hamedan.
However, following her appeal, the Kurdistan Court of Appeals reduced the verdict. In a ruling issued by Branch 4 of the Court of Appeals on October 2, 2024, and delivered to her lawyer, she was acquitted of the charge of “collaboration with a hostile government,” while her sentences were reduced to one year for “propaganda against the state” and 16 months for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the state.”
Zhina Modares Gorji was abducted by agents of the Islamic Republic’s Intelligence Department on April 10, 2023, on her way home from work. She was held in solitary confinement in the women’s ward for one month before being transferred to the general ward on May 9, 2023. After 84 days in detention, she was temporarily released on July 3, 2023, on a heavy bail of five billion tomans.
She had previously been arrested on September 21, 2022, during the nationwide protests and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement by intelligence agents in Sanandaj. After 40 days in the women’s ward of Sanandaj Prison, she was released on October 30, 2022, on bail of 100 million tomans pending trial.