Nooshin Jafari is an Iranian culture reporter, cinematographer, and photojournalist who was arrested in early August 2019 in Tehran. She is currently being held incommunicado in an unknown location without charge.

Jafari, who has worked for various Iranian publications as a culture critic and reporter for years, won Best Photographer of the Year at the 2nd Iranian Cinema Photographers Festival in 2016 for her work on the film Lantouri and donated the proceeds to victims of acid attacks. She is well known and respected in Iranian film circles and this community has been vocal in support of her since her recent detention.

On August 3 or 4, 2019, Jafari was on her way to work when she was stopped by authorities and taken into custody. Her possessions and photography equipment have been seized and she has since been held at an undisclosed location, most likely in Tehran. Jafari’s family visited Evin Women’s Prison, notorious for the  detention of political prisoners, later that week and were given no information about whether she was indeed there or what she might be charged with.

Anonymous, pro-government Twitter accounts that serve as support for hardline policies and politicians speculated after Jafari’s arrest that it might be due to her cooperation with international human rights investigators and alleged that she might run another anonymous “counter-revolutionary” Twitter account, @YaarDabestaani (School Mate). Her friends and colleagues were quick to refute these claims.

Jafari was earlier arrested in 2010 on suspicion of having participated in mass protests in the capital in 2009. She was eventually given a 2-year suspended prison sentence (to be served outside of prison) for this offense.

Please join The Voice Project in rejecting the arbitrary detention of Nooshin Jafari and demanding her immediate and unconditional release.