Iranian officials released journalist Masoud Kurdpour after he spent almost five months in prison, IranWire reports.
The terms of his release on the evening of February 14 were not immediately clear.
Kurdpour was arrested in Bukan, in West Azerbaijan province, on September 20, 2022.
On February 5, the Revolutionary Court in Bukan sentenced him to nine months in prison on the charge of "propaganda against the regime" and to eight months for "disturbing public order."
The journalist is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Kurdish news website Mukrian News Agency, which has covered the protest movement triggered by the September 16 death of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Tehran’s morality police.
Dozens of journalists have been detained since the eruption of the nationwide protests against Iran’s clerical establishment. Some of them have been released. Others have been summoned or threatened and had their electronic equipment seized.
Iranian authorities have arrested at least eight journalists and photographers since the start of the year due to their journalistic activities. Four of them were later released on bail, awaiting sentencing.
Photographer Ahmad Halabisaz announced on January 16 he had been sentenced to two years in prison. The next day, journalist Alireza Khoshbakht was sentenced to six years on charges that included engaging in “propaganda activities against the regime.”
Known for its harsh Internet censorship, which includes banning thousands of websites, the Islamic Republic has to a large scale shut down the Internet for most of Iranians in an effort to prevent them from accessing and disseminating information online and from communicating safely.
On December 1, 2022, the Islamic Republic was the world’s third biggest jailer of journalists after China and Myanmar, with 47 detainees, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Activists say more than 520 people have been killed and over 19,000 others have been detained in connection with the protests so far.
