Jailed Journalist Maroofian Says Was “Sexually Assaulted” during Arrest

In an audio file sent from Tehran’s Evin prison, journalist Nazila Maroofian says that she was “sexually assaulted” during her latest arrest a week ago.

"They sexually assaulted me when I was in the worst possible situation," the 23-year-old Maroofian said in the audio file made public on September 6.

Maroofian was detained at her home in Tehran on August 30, marking the fourth time in the past year that the outspoken journalist from the predominantly Kurdish western city of Saqqez has been arrested.

She was later sentenced to one year in prison for allegedly disseminating "propaganda against the system" and "collusion and gathering."

Maroofian was initially arrested in November 2022 following the publication of an interview with Amjad Amini, the father of the 22-year-old woman whose death in police custody in September last year sparked months of nationwide protests.

The authorities, fearing a flare up in protests ahead of the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, have ramped up their crackdown against activists, journalists and families of those killed in the widespread demonstrations.