Woman Journalist in Iran re-arrested for not wearing hijab

Nazila Maroufian, a female journalist from the Islamic Republic of Iran who interviewed Mahsa Amini’s father, was re-arrested on 30 August for not wearing the hijab (headscarf) in public.

According to a report by the Tasnim agency, Iranian woman journalist Nazila Maroufian was arrested for allegedly wearing inappropriate clothes in public places. The authorities in Iran previously arrested her because she did not wear the hijab and published her photographs on social media. 

Nazila Maroufian has been arrested a lot of times by the Iranian authorities for not wearing the hijab. The Iranian authorities accused her of violating Islamic laws of the country.

What happened to Nazila Maroufian?

Nazila Maroufian walked out of Tehran’s Evin prison on 13 August. She spent nearly a month in Evin prison. After coming out of the prison, she posted a picture of herself without a mandatory hijab. Posting the picture, she wrote on social media, “Don’t accept slavery, you deserve the best!.” The move angered the Iranian authorities. Later on, the female journalist was arrested again at the Qarchak women’s prison. The authorities released her again. However, she was detained again on Wednesday. 

Last year, Nazila Maroufian interviewed Mahsa Amini’s father. She published the interview on the website Mostaghel Online. Mahsa Amini’s father claimed in the interview that the Iranian authorities lied about the circumstances of his daughter’s death. He said that the country’s morality police were the reason for his daughter’s death. However, the Iranian authorities said that Amini died because of a health problem. 

Nazila Maroufian was arrested in November 2022 for allegedly publishing the news story about Amini’s death. In January 2023, the female journalist revealed that she had received a sentence of two years for allegedly promoting propaganda against the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The journalist was sent to Evin prison in early July.

She had been detained by Iranian authorities several times. 

What happened to Mahsa Amini?

Mahsa Amini, a 22 year old Iranian-Kurdish woman, was arrested by the country’s morality police for wearing a loose hijab in September 2022. The morality police took her to the detention center to teach her a lesson about the country’s dress code. According to rights groups and female journalists, she took a blow to the head while being detained at the center. Amini’s family alleged that the morality police beat her to death. She was taken to a hospital in Tehran. Later on, the doctor declared her dead. Her death caused huge demonstrations across the country.