Artist Neda Dadejani sentenced to prison and internal exile over January protests

Hengaw – Monday, July 6, 2026

The Iranian Judiciary has sentenced Neda Dadejani, a Kurdish artist and one of those arrested during the January protests, to three years in prison and two years of internal exile in Nikshahr, Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Dadejani is a puppeteer and theatre artist from Qorveh. Under Iran's sentencing rules, two years of her prison sentence are enforceable.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the Revolutionary Court sentenced Dadejani to two years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against the country's internal security.” In a separate ruling, the Criminal Court sentenced her to one year in prison and two years of internal exile in Nikshahr on the charge of “disrupting public order.”

Dadejani is an award-winning puppeteer who received the Best Puppeteering Award at the Eighth Regional Theatre Festival for People with Disabilities, as well as the festival's First Prize for Puppet Design and Construction. She has also worked as a costume and makeup designer in theatre productions.