Kurdistan/Iran; Kurdish female journalist and women rights advocate granted furlough

On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Jina Modarres-Gorji, a journalist and women's rights activist, was granted temporary leave from the Senandj Correctional Facility.

According to an informed source, Mrs. Gorji has been granted a ten day furlough.

On October 20, 2024, Mrs. Modarras-Gorji was summoned by the judicial environment office in Sine (Sanandaj) to appear in court to begin serving her sentence. Subsequently she appeared at the women ward in the correctional facility in Sine (Sanandaj) on Saturday October 31, 2025 accompanied by a group of women from Sine (Sanandaj) to show their support.

Mrs. Modarres-Gorji received a notification for the execution of her sentence from the Fourth Branch of the Criminal Enforcement Court in Senandj on November 22, 2024.

The initial verdict was revised by the Court of Appeals in Sine from 21 years to 28 months. According to this ruling, issued by the Fourth Branch of the Court of Appeals on October 3, 2024, and communicated to Mrs. Modarres-Gorji's lawyer, she was acquitted for the charge of "espionage" and sentenced to one year in prison for "propaganda against the regime" and 16 months for "forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime."

In accordance with Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding accumulating sentences, the longer term of these sentences, specifically the 16 months of imprisonment, is implemented.

Mrs. Moddares-Gorji was initially sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for "forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the regime," ten years for "collaborating with hostile groups and states," and one year for "propaganda against the regime," On May 25, 2024, by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sine (Senandj), presided over by Judge Mohammad Karami, of which 10 years of imprisonment in exile to Hamadan being enforced.

Specific allegations against this women’s rights activist included "establishing the Jiwano NGO with a feminist ideology aimed at overthrowing the regime, actively participating in protests, contact with anti government elements, participating in international conferences and educational workshops,and publishing content in social media and conducting interviews with foreign media to skew the situation in the country and escalate societal tensions in a critical time period following the death of Mahsa Amini."

It is notable that the accusations against Mrs. Modarres-Gorji by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sine (Sanandaj) was solely based on the reports from the Ministry of Intelligence. The court also considered that serving of such sentence in Sine (Sananadaj) the hometown of Mrs. Gorji is a potential embodiment of "security corruption" due to "possible subversive activities" and, in accordance with Article 513 of the Criminal Procedure Code, mandated her imprisonment in exile to Hamadan.

Additionally, regarding the charge of "spreading disinformation and inciting people to violent," the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court transmitted and designated the 2nd branch of Criminal Court in Senandj as responsible body for addressing the case.

On Tuesday, July 3, 2023, after 84 days of temporary detention, Jina Modarres-Gorji was released on bail of five billion tomans from the Correctional Center in Sine (Sanandaj).

In May 2023, the First Investigative Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sine (Sanandaj) presided by chief judge Alireza Faryabi, rejected the claims filed by Mrs. Gorji against the agents of the intelligence services Office in Sine regarding depriving individuals of personal freedom and rights established in the constitution, arbitrary detention, kidnapping, physical assault, torture and insult, dismissed the case claiming there was no “sufficient evidence” and issued immunity for the intelligence services personnel.

On May 9, 2023, Mrs. Modarras-Gorji was transferred from solitary confinement in the Senandj Correctional Facility to the general women ward.

On Monday, April 10, 2024, Jina Modarres-Gorji was once again arrested by Iranian security forces in Sine (Senandj).

She was brutally assaulted on the streets in Sine during the arrest by the members of the Ministry of Intelligence in the early days of the of the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement on September 21, 2022, and after 40 days of detention in the women's ward in Sine (Sanandaj) she was temporarily released on bail of 100 million tomans on October 30, 2022. The investigating judge later increased her bail amount to one billion tomans.

Prior to her arrest, she had been summoned by Intelligence Services of the revolutionary guards corps ( IRGC) and threatened by security forces that if she participated in protests in Sine (Senandj), "she will never see the daylight again."