Farghadani had initially received a
sentence of 12 years and nine months for her visual critique of a
conservative bill that restricted access to birth control, but an
appeals court last month reduced
it to 18 months.


The charges levied against her last
June included “spreading
propaganda against the system,” “insulting members of parliament
through paintings,” and “gathering and colluding against national
security”; during her recent trial, she was acquitted of
the charges of participating in counterrevolutionary activity and
compromising national security, as CRNI reported. 

Her sentence
for insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been suspended for three
years; that for insulting other politicians was reduced to a
monetary fine.

First arrested in August 2014,
Farghadani has described receiving physical
and verbal abuse from prison officials while
incarcerated. She had also experienced weeks of solitary confinement
and gone on hunger strikes, one of which resulted in a heart attack. 
Most recently, a report from the UN confirmed that the artist was
forced
to undergo multiple virginity and pregnancy tests, allegedly to
investigate “illegitimate sexual relations” that consisted of a
handshake with her lawyer Mohammad Moghimi. The pair was acquitted in
a trial last October.


According to CRNI, Farghadani
is grateful for the support of all cartoonists, activists, and
organizations toward her cause, but also expressed concern over those
who remain imprisoned and largely silenced. 
She intends to remain in
Iran and continue her work as an artist.