Iran has granted amnesty to four environmental activists, including Sam Rajabi and Niloufar Bayani, who were jailed on charges of espionage since Jan. 2018. These activists, detained since 2017, were part of a larger group advocating for environmental issues such as the conservation of the endangered Asiatic cheetah. Their imprisonment, which lasted more than five years, was widely criticized as being based on unfounded accusations. The release, attributed to a pardon from Iran's supreme leader, has been met with relief and celebration among conservationists and human rights advocates globally. Among the released, Niloufar Bayani, a researcher and UNEP advisor, had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, while her colleague Houman Jokar received an 8-year sentence. The releases are part of a mass amnesty that also saw the freeing of other conservationists, including Taher Ghadirian and Sepideh Kashani, marking the end of the imprisonment for a group of nine environmentalists arrested in 2018. Among the detainees, Kavous Seyed Emami suspiciously lost his life during his imprisonment.
Taher Ghadirian and Sepideh Kashani who were released from Iran's prison on Tuesday were the last to be freed among a group of nine environmentalists who were arrested in 2018 on charges of espionage. Among the detainees, Kavous Seyed Emami suspiciously lost his life during… https://t.co/hprFCR0XQu https://t.co/LFyJ0oSPHg
Iran has released two conservationists who worked to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah before spending five years in prison on espionage charges. https://t.co/8llhyEdqc8
#Iranian conservationists advocating for #cheetahs released from jail https://t.co/ZVWKQW7X5i https://t.co/Qmm65kGqF8
Iran has released two conservationists who worked to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah before spending five years in prison on espionage charges: https://t.co/9DnUMMfkAU
Niloufar Bayani, an Iranian researcher, conservationist and @UNEP advisor who was jailed since Jan. 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charge of "spying for CIA and Mossad" was pardoned and released on Monday. Her colleague Houman Jokar, who was sentenced to 8 years in… https://t.co/dzmGsZoTbD
As part of a mas amnesty, Iran pardons four environmental activists who have been detained since 2017. Environmental activists in Iran have been persecuted for spotlighting "official corruption, incompetence, and mismanagement." https://t.co/5V1o4JfKqt
Four environmentalists who spent more than five years in prison after being convicted of spying will be freed following a pardon from #Iran’s supreme leader, state media report. https://t.co/0YW97q4Onm
Four Iranian environmental activists jailed on security charges are set to be released after more than six years in prison https://t.co/gsIB7mHVKP
Iran has reportedly granted amnesty to four environmentalists jailed for several years on bogus charges. They include Sam Rajabi and Niloufar Bayani. Reports say they will be released soon. They shouldn’t have been jailed in the first place.
All of the jailed Iranian conservationists who had been arrested some 7 years ago on charges of espionage by the IRGC will be released. A huge relief for their families and conservationists around the world who tried so hard. @UNEP @Greenpeace https://t.co/l0IVIfgJB5