Iranian Student Activist Released After 20 Months in Prison

Iranian student activist Zia Nabavi was released from Evin Prison on Monday after serving one year and eight months, his lawyer said.

Amir Raisian confirmed to Shargh newspaper that Nabavi completed his sentence and was freed.

Nabavi was transferred to Evin in April to serve a one-year sentence related to protesting the serial poisoning of schoolgirls.

A second one-year sentence for protesting the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane was carried out simultaneously, Raisian said.

A directive issued in September reduced sentences by four months. With that reduction applied, Nabavi was released after 20 months in prison.

While behind bars, Nabavi took the doctoral entrance examination and ranked second nationally.

He was admitted to Tarbiat Modares University's political sociology program for the current academic year.

Nabavi and his family requested leave so he could attend classes beginning in late September.

Authorities denied the request, Raisian said.

The lawyer said he had attempted to overturn the rulings four times through different branches of Iran's Supreme Court. All efforts were rejected.a

Nabavi previously served eight years and eight months in prison on charges linked to the Council for the Defense of the Right to Education.

He had been sentenced to 10 years in 2009 but was released in 2017 after a retrial reduced his sentence by five years.

As many as 13,000 pupils reportedly suffered symptoms including nausea, fainting, headaches, coughing, breathing difficulties, and heart palpitations, with many requiring hospital treatment in late 2022 and early 2023.

The attacks appeared to target girls for their involvement in nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.