13 Facts About Kianush Sanjari

Kianush Sanjari was an Iranian journalist and activist.

Kianush Sanjari had a history of being arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement several times in Iran.

Kianush Sanjari worked as a researcher for the Boroumand Foundation, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and the Iran Human Rights organization in Norway.

Kianush Sanjari was arrested in Iran several times by the security forces, between 1999 and 2007, and served two years in Evin Prison, then he fled Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kianush Sanjari received asylum from Amnesty International and traveled to Norway, and then later traveled to the United States.

In 2016, Kianush Sanjari returned to Iran to care for his aging mother, after several years of working with Persian-language media abroad.

Kianush Sanjari was interrogated and after a trial that lasted only minutes, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 11 years in prison.

Kianush Sanjari would have to serve a minimum of five years.

Kianush Sanjari was banned from leaving Iran for two years after serving his sentence.

In early 2019, after serving three years of his sentence, Kianush Sanjari fell sick and the prison doctor ruled that he must be granted a medical leave of absence.

Kianush Sanjari reported that during one of these hospitalizations, he was subjected to electric shocks nine times.

Kianush Sanjari was later on medical furlough, but was required to regularly present himself at Evin Prison, reporting to the office responsible for monitoring people convicted or charged with security offenses.

Kianush Sanjari reportedly died by suicide in Tehran, on 13 November 2024, at the age of 42 after jumping off a building.