Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani has been apprehended by authorities in Tehran, according to her legal representative. This is not Farghadani's first encounter with the Iranian legal system. She was previously incarcerated for 18 months in 2016 for a cartoon depicting lawmakers as animals, a piece created to protest proposed legislation on contraception and sterilization. Her lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, announced her detention via Twitter on Friday, stating she was summoned to the Evin courthouse and subsequently arrested. The specific reasons for her latest detainment remain unclear. However, it follows a recent Instagram post on Wednesday featuring one of her drawings, which portrayed individuals with animalistic and demonic features. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), headquartered in New York, has called for Farghadani's immediate release, urging Iranian authorities to cease their suppression of journalists and commentators. The CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Sherif Mansour, condemned the recurring pattern of detaining journalists, labeling it a blatant disregard for legal principles.
