Batool Balali is a reporter for Kerman Farda news website and local weekly Pasargad in the city of Kerman.

Balali was arrested on Wednesday September 21, 2022, while covering the protests in Sirjan in Kerman province over the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody of the Morality Police.

“Ms. Balali was in the street to do her legal and professional duty when a police officer confiscated her phone and told her to go to one of the police stations in Sirjan the next day to get back her phone and provide some explanations. After she went to the station, she was arrested and was transferred to Sirjan Prison,” reported Ashkan News.

An informed source told Journalism Is Not a Crime that Batool Balali has been released pending her trial.