Nasrin Roshan

Nasrin Roshan

Iranian-British Homemaker

Biography

Nasrin Roshan is a homemaker who was born in 1963 and who emigrated from Iran to the United Kingdom with her husband in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

First Arrest and Imprisonment

Roshan was first arrested in Iran in 1981 and was imprisoned until 1985. During that time, she was first tortured and interrogated in Iran’s notoriously brutal Evin Prison in Tehran and then transferred to Qazal Hesar Prison in Karaj, where she served the remainder of her time.

Second Arrest

The authorities arrested Roshan in November 2023 at the airport as she was trying to fly back to the U.K. after visiting a sick aunt. 

Treatment in Captivity

The regime initially held Roshan in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of the infamously brutal Evin Prison. Ward 209 is controlled by Iran’s ministry of intelligence. 

After reportedly interrogating and torturing Roshan for about a month and a half, the authorities transferred her in January 2024 to Evin’s women’s ward, where she remains.

Roshan reportedly has begun to suffer from knee arthritis while imprisoned, affecting her ability to walk and her appearance. Her imprisonment has also exacerbated her preexisting depression for years, according to Roshan’s husband, who also said that she was recently diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, a heart disease.

Trial, Conviction, and Sentencing

Roshan was tried and convicted by Iman Afshari, presiding judge of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court, of “assembly and collusion” and “propaganda against the system.” Afshari sentenced her to four years’ imprisonment on the first charge and eight months on the second. As grounds for Roshan’s prison sentences, Afshari reportedly cited her attendance of rallies against the Islamic Republic abroad following the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s Morality Police.

Roshan’s husband, Arash Asiabi, told the press that in the spring of 2024, a judge had summoned Roshan and stated to her that her sentence was being shortened to 13 months. However, when Roshan’s attorney tried to apply for early release for her in May 2024, the prosecutor informed him that Roshan’s sentence had not been reduced. “We realized … that they had duped us,” Asiabi said.

International Reaction

Roshan’s husband told the press, “My wife has committed no crime and does not deserve to be in prison in Iran. My wife participated in protests outside Iran, just like any conscientious Iranian who cares about their country and people. Giving voice to the Iranian people is not a crime, and she should not spend a single day in prison.” Her husband also said that he is attempting to get the British government involved in Roshan’s case.

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