Saba Azarpeik’s husband announced that the stress from prison conditions has caused the imprisoned journalist to miscarry. She was transferred from prison to the hospital yesterday with severe bleeding symptoms, but unfortunately, medical interventions failed to prevent the miscarriage.

Ataollah Hafezi, Ms. Azarpeik’s husband, shared on social media: “Yesterday, my wife was transferred from prison to the hospital due to severe bleeding and lost this month’s pregnancy. In February, following a nine-hour court session, our two-month-old fetus was also miscarried.” He emphasized the urgency of her release for necessary medical treatment to avert “permanent infertility.”

Addressing Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the head of the Judiciary, Hafezi wrote: “Inquire about my wife’s mental state from the prison authorities. A lifelong anti-corruption advocate does not deserve this treatment. On the day of arrest, the head prosecutor was repeatedly informed that my wife should not be subjected to a stressful environment. Despite a one-day window to execute the order, she was physically harmed at the prosecutor’s office (evidenced by bruising on both arms) and forcibly taken to prison.”

On June 9, 2024, Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency, reported that Saba Azarpeik was arrested “to enforce a final judicial decree involving multiple private plaintiffs.”

Previously, Saba Azarpeik was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, a fine, and required to restore reputation through apologies in a selected official newspaper due to accusations of five instances of publishing lies, defamation, and threats following separate complaints from the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mohsen Dehnavi, and Zahra Sheikhi, representatives from Tehran and Isfahan, and two other complainants, as well as one year of imprisonment, a fine, and a two-year ban on online activities definitively for threats and five instances of accusations.