Sarv was sentenced to three years imprisonment, four months compulsory service in the Basij paramilitary and to a compulsory study of exegetical works on the Surah al-Hujuarat – the 46th surah/chapter of the Quran which discusses etiquette and norms to be observed in the Muslim community – on charges of "insutling the Supreme Leader," "propaganda against the state" and "gathering and colluding against national security."

Zohreh Sarv was arrested on December 24, 2019, along with Sina Monirzadeh. They were both charged as part of a joint case due to their political activities on Instagram. Sarv was transferred to a solitary confinement cell in Section 1A in Evin Prison which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Detention Centre.

On January 11, 2020, after being interrogated for more than two weeks, Sarv was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Varamin Prison.

Sarv was sentenced in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Courts of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, to three years imprisonment, four months of compulsory service in the Basij paramilitary and to a compulsory study of one of the surahs of the Quran. On March 11, 2020, Sarv was informed of the court’s final sentence while she was imprisoned in Qarchak Varamin Prison.

Sarv is currently being held in Section 1 – the "Mothers' Section" of Qarchak Varamin Prison.

Despite reports that at least one prisoner in Qarchak Varamin Prison had tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, many female political prisoners in the prison, including Sarv, have been denied the right to temporary leave due to obstruction and opposition from judicial officials.

Iran's judiciary officials have meanwhile claimed that more than half of the country's political prisoners have been able to exercise their right to temporary leave from prison during the height of the pandemic in Iran.

Sarv was released from Qarchak Varamin Prison on April 5, 2021, after enduring 74 lashes for possession of alcohol.

The sentence was carried out while the issue was closed by paying a fine as an alternative to lashing. The Hrana human rights news agency  wrote that Sarv's whipping sentence was carried out at the insistence of the prison authorities and by announcing that it was not possible to send her on leave without the execution of the sentence.

Visiting the office of enforcing sentences in the Evin Court on June 12, 2021, Sarv was informed of her early release.

The reason for her early release was the reduction of her sentence because of serving more than half of it.

She was released on bail and a letter of her release was issued. Still, Serv was banned from leaving the country until the end of her sentence in June 2021, almost 18 months.